Face My Fears
by TTY7
Summary: A short time has passed since the defeat of Master Xehanort. Though peace has returned to the worlds, Aqua has yet to find peace within herself. She expected her life and her heart to pick up where it left off, but nothing is the same. She's not the same and never would be again. It hurts knowing the man beside her isn't the person she longs to see anymore. (KH3 Spoilers inside)
1. Face My Fears

A/N: So...it's been a while since I wrote anything Fanfic related for any fandom, but after playing through Kingdom Hearts 3, (**Yes, spoilers will be present.)** I became inspired and just started writing. What I wrote though...is a piece I consider an experiment. For whatever reason, I wanted to write a story exploring some of the psychological aftereffects the realm of darkness and other plot stuff could have had on Aqua while also exploring the Sora/Aqua pairing. SoKai is obviously canon at this point given what happens in KH3, but for whatever reason I want to experiment with this pairing anyway because I find it interesting. Considering the age difference, it's also a pretty weird pairing in my mind; however their personalities could potentially match very well, and they would look pretty cute together I think, so...this story is the result of a random plot bunny I couldn't get rid of. This could remain a one-shot or become a multi-chapter story depending partially on how you guys respond to it. I'm a little out of practice in terms of writing, so if something feels a little disjointed, or you guys feel I could have written a certain scene or character interaction better, or if you see general grammar/spelling things I may have missed while editing, please tell me via review. And if you like what you read, be sure to tell me that too. Thanks in advance everyone! I hope you guys enjoy what I have to offer.

Additional Note/Warning: **This story takes place post KH3, which means this story spoils pretty much the entire game. If you don't want spoilers, run. Run I say! Get out of here! I will not be held responsible for ruining the game for you. You have been warned. Kay, we good? We good? Alright!**On another note the summary for this story and the categories I chose are subject to change as of now. I'm not satisfied with the summary right now and if I add on to this it will definitely need to be changed to coincide with whatever plot I come up with, but you need not concern yourself with that. Enjoy!

* * *

_Face My Fears_

* * *

_No one is coming._

Suspended in murky depths, a young woman fought a losing battle against the waves pressing down against her body. Though she strained with her arms and legs to reach the surface, she continued to sink deeper and deeper. The sensation overtook her thoughts and brought with it a sense of pure terror.

She couldn't breathe at all. Her heartbeat went on in a relentless rhythm as her lungs begged for air.

_No one is coming._

With weakening movements she once again reached her arms toward the surface of the water, toward the light...

And yet...she knew an abyss of darkness awaited her above as well as below.

Tears spilled from her eyes then, mixing with the tumultuous waves pressing against her body, forcing her further down into the depths.

She hadn't been able to breathe for what felt like months now.

Shouldn't she have died already?

Or...was this simply Hell, that realm of continuous torment depicted in various stories throughout the ages.

Aqua wasn't sure.

She had traveled above the depths for ten years and fared no better. Endless days of walking through fallen worlds empty of their residents and fighting relentless hoards of heartless had already pushed her to an unstable mental state. Hallucinations were a common occurrence, and she often fought phantoms of herself. Each persona enjoyed taunting and demeaning her for making efforts to stay positive...to keep hope alive in her heart.

What was the point anymore?

_No one is coming._

Deep in the depths, Aqua heard those words over and over. It was a strange mantra of defeat so foreign to the person she had been. After all, she willingly condemned herself to this place to save a friend she loved dearly. Even with all the suffering she'd endured, if she could go back and do it all again...she would sacrifice herself again and again and again.

Protecting Terra was the one thing she refused to regret for a single second.

And, up until now, Aqua had never been waiting for someone to save her. At the start of her journey through this realm, she intended to escape with her own power. She was a Keyblade master after all. Of course she could escape on her own. No one else had to be involved. No one else needed to be sacrificed. She would bear the burden and face the darkness alone.

In the beginning, she held on to this mindset through the endless stretch of experiences spanning time she couldn't feel the passage of.

The "damsel in distress" role was one she adamantly refused to play.

However, in spite of her fighting spirit and emotional endurance, the role claimed her.

Like it or not, she's a damsel and she's in distress...

But no one is coming to save her.

A bitter smile lifted the corners of her mouth as this realization truly dawned on her.

"_Have even more years passed now_?" she wondered, still sinking in the depths, unable to breathe at all. By now she most definitely should have died. Did she simply not feel herself go?

A part of her wanted to keep fighting, had to keep trying to escape even though it was pointless. She hated this feeling. She hated being so weak and alone and...scared.

But there was nothing she could do about it. She was too weak to reach toward the surface anymore and too heartbroken to believe a savior would come.

"_I'll just drift here forever. Forever...and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever..."_

The thoughts continued on and on like that. As the words continued to repeat in her mind, Aqua felt her mouth open in a soundless laugh.

And then, without warning, a hot, burning rage ravaged her heart. A scream retched itself from her throat, yet no sound could be heard. This created its own terror, which prompted the once proud Keyblade master to scream on and on in the hopes of simply hearing her own voice, regardless of how blood curdling the sound might be; nevertheless, the silence continued on.

Her voice was lost to the darkness.

Eventually, though Aqua barely felt it, her body began to convulse from the sobs accompanying the screams. She could hardly feel anything physically anymore and it horrified her more than words could adequately express.

These feelings prompted her to press her hands against her eyes, partially to confirm she still had arms attached to her.

The other reason for the action was something Aqua ultimately considered meaningless and vain to an extent. No one was around to see her cry, yet a lingering trace of pride compelled her to bury her face in her hands as she curled into herself, floating between life and death in an ongoing cycle of dread that showed no signs of ever stopping. There was no reason to hide any of the things she felt, not even from herself. After all, she was the only company available in the realm of darkness. Just her. Alone. Forever.

* * *

Gut wrenching screams pulled Aqua out of sleep. She bolted upright from bed, breathing harshly as hands gripped her shoulders.

Still disoriented and shaken, the blue-haired woman quickly summoned her fallen master's Keyblade and attacked in a sweeping motion in front of her. She heard a slight grunt from the person in front of her as she leaped to the opposite side of the room, still breathing raggedly but managing to maintain a firm stance of defense.

With her back pressed against the brick wall behind her, Aqua glanced across the familiar room as if it were an illusion. Her bed was a tangled mess of sheets with the lavender bedspread lying haphazardly on the stone floor. For a few seconds her gaze lingered on her Wayfinder charm resting on the wooden nightstand next to the bed before taking in the other furnishings in the room, which included a small sofa and two bookshelves on either side of her bedroom door along with a desk for studying. The light of the pale moon shone in from the window directly above her, allowing her to read some of the titles on the spines. Most of them were old spell books Eraquis gave to her when she first began her training.

"That hurt...Aqua..."

The blue-haired wielder finally shifted her attention to the floor where Terra was seated, shaking his head a bit.

"T-Terra?"

"Don't worry," he began, rubbing the back of his head as he rose to his feet. "I'm fine...mostly."

The two of them stared at each other in silence for a while. During that time, Aqua simply focused on inhaling and exhaling. It was such a simple action, yet the sensation of breathing sometimes felt unfamiliar to her. It was just another lingering effect from her decade long stay in the realm of darkness. Terra watched her intently, concern clearly displayed in his deep blue eyes.

After another few seconds, Aqua finally mustered the ability to address him properly. "I'm sorry for attacking you, but..." She paused for a second, uncertainty clouding her features as she asked, "What are you doing in my room?"

"You were screaming." His eyes drifted to their master's keyblade, which Aqua still held protectively over herself. She quickly dismissed the weapon once she caught him staring.

"I'm sorry I woke you..." she muttered, a blush rising on her cheeks. "...again."

Terra smiled softly at her though the smile did nothing to mask the worry she could see in his gaze.

"Ven was pretty worried too," Terra stated quickly, watching Aqua as she walked past him to the bookshelf behind him. "I convinced him to go back to bed though. He's been having a rough time sleeping as well. I've even had a couple nightmares myself."

Aqua scanned the titles on the spines as Terra talked, eventually deciding to pluck a book containing various fairytales. She placed it on the nearby desk without a word.

"We've..." he paused briefly, no doubt recollecting his own self-induced traumas. "We've been through a lot, Aqua. It's going to take time for us to move on from everything, but..."

"But what," she questioned, examining the cover of the book she'd chosen as a means to keep herself from looking Terra in the eye.

"We'll find a way. We'll get through this...together."

Aqua didn't respond, choosing instead to out the book down and march toward her walk-in closet. Her usual clothes lay on the sofa near the door.

As she collected them so she could change out of her pajamas, she mumbled, "Will we?"

"Hmmm?"

The fact he didn't quite hear what she said sent Aqua spiraling back into the dream...or rather...back into the past.

"_No one heard me screaming. No one heard me crying."_

"Aqua?"

"Nothing," she muttered, disappearing into the closet. She shut the door a little more harshly than she intended, which almost prompted a sigh to escape her lips. "_So much for convincing him I'm okay."_

Terra, staring at the door, raised his voice a little so he could be heard. "Aqua, we can talk about it you know. The master...he told me to take care of you and Ven."

Aqua leaned back against the door with her bundle of clothes cradled in her arms like a mother might cradle a child. Though equipped to send words of reassurance to sooth Terra's worries, she was tempted to say she was far better suited for the role of protector than he was. She always had been.

Neither response felt right, so she kept silent and merely stared at her feet. A single tear slid down her cheek unexpectedly and Aqua cursed under her breath.

"I'll find a way to prove to you that you can rely on me, Aqua."

The blue-haired keyblade master closed her eyes, her emotional state caught between gratitude for his effort and annoyance with herself for worrying him in the first place.

"Thanks Terra," she answered, hoping that would be enough to appease him. "I'll be fine. I just...rather be alone right now."

After a few seconds she heard him sigh. "You can't be strong forever, Aqua."

"_Watch me_." Gritting her teeth to keep the words from leaving her lips, Aqua walked a little further into the closet as a means to put more distance between herself and Terra. As she started to get changed, she heard him close her bedroom door. Little by little, the tension his presence brought lifted from her shoulders.

The relief she felt with his absence was a truly sad thing. After finally being rescued from the realm of darkness, Aqua was finally reunited with her most precious friends. Xehanort met his end and peace returned to all the worlds. Free from her former prison, Aqua was overjoyed to see bright stars lighting up the void of darkened sky at night. She was able to appreciate the beautiful architecture and immaculate interior designs of their home in a different way than before. With each day that passed in the realm of light, Aqua found herself enjoying the brightness of the sun, the feel of flower petals against her fingertips, the sound of bugs and birds flittering about through the trees, and all the lovely little things nature had to offer. Life and hope existed in her world again, and that prompted her to spend most of her time outside, gardening or playing games with Ven. In the two weeks following the end of the final battle, Aqua and Terra had spent an ample amount of time alone together talking through some of their painful experiences in the time they'd been apart, though never in much detail. They mostly reminisced on happier days and watched the sunsets together.

The two of them grew closer in many ways.

However...

It's complicated.

As Aqua finished changing into her usual outfit, she found herself thinking about how right it felt when Terra held her hand. His strength and warmth was comforting. She could feel the strength of their bond every time his fingers entwined with hers. She could feel how deeply he loved her and returned those feelings in kind.

Unfortunately, she felt something entirely different when they kissed. The first time it happened, a wave of disgust hit her along with a profound sense of disappointment and guilt.

"_It was...like I was kissing Xehanort..."_

She shuddered at the thought. It wasn't Terra's fault his body had been taken over by Xehanort. He clearly wasn't possessed now, but...

She never wanted to kiss him again, which meant she didn't want to be close to him the same way he wanted, and that made rebuilding their friendship a lot more difficult than it needed to be.

And again, it wasn't his fault. Aqua had been the one to initiate that first kiss the other day, thinking she was ready. She thought she wanted to be with Terra the same way he wanted to be with her. She had longed to see him and feel his arms around her many times during her stay in the realm of darkness. She hallucinated his presence many times simply because of how lonely and desperate she was for a friend or simple human contact. Before then, the idea of a romantic relationship with Terra was a fantasy she played around with in her mind in the peaceful days before everything fell apart. After all, they had grown up and trained together for most of their lives. It was only natural for her to drift toward him romantically when their bond of friendship was already so strong, but...

Too much had changed. Too much time had gone by.

She hadn't aged a single day... but a decade of solitude changed her on the inside.

And, like it or not, a vital part of her was still trapped in the abyss she'd been left to rot in.

With these thoughts and more filtering through her mind, Aqua opened the closet door and briefly scanned the familiar surroundings before taking a seat on the sofa to put on her shoes. Once through with that, she padded over to her desk and grabbed the book of fairytales. Once more she examined the cover, appreciating the design of the ornate medieval castle depicted on it. After another few seconds, she walked over to a different window in the room and popped it open. A cool breeze rushed in, instantly bringing a sense of calm as she maneuvered herself out of the opening and into the night.

After landing gracefully along the dirt path below, Aqua lifted her gaze toward the full moon while the soft winds played with her hair and rustled through the surrounding trees. The gentle hum of sound it created accompanied the young woman as she began her trek along the grounds, looking for a suitable spot to read and stargaze. She continued to stare at the moon as she walked. It was a soothing light, a reminder. She wasn't alone in the dark anymore.

Without the moonlight, she didn't dare go out at night.

Of course, the moon itself was a source of a different trauma for Aqua, though she usually chose not to think about it.

Still, she would never be able to forget the luminous light of Kingdom Hearts as it descended upon them. Thinking of that heart-shaped moon brought thoughts of Xehanort, thoughts of pain, betrayal, and loss. Sometimes it was hard to believe ten years had gone by since then. To her...only days had gone by. Of course, those days had been filled with battles and endless wandering that ultimately took up ten years of her life. It was time she would never get back. Terra and Ventus were both subject to the same fate in some ways. Terra's strength of will forced him to wander in between worlds for a decade and Ventus remained in a perpetual state of sleep.

"That's over now," she whispered, trying to shake the gravity of the loss away. "We're together again. Everything worked out for the best."

Aqua wasn't sure she actually believed those words. It just made her feel better to say them.

After walking aimlessly for a bit, the blue-haired warrior eventually made her way to the familiar practice grounds. With careful movements, she sat down on a patch of soft grass and once again set her sight on the starry sky. Brief flashes of her past self giving Wayfinder charms to Terra and Ventus before the Mark of Mastery exam entered her mind.

Other memories played through her mind. Some were happy. Others sad. All of them precious.

While reflecting on these things she reached into her pocket for her Wayfinder charm only to realize she'd left it in her room.

"Alone and forgotten, huh?" she breathed, now staring down at her hand, empty of the charm she'd often stared at to reassure herself that everything would be okay.

Would she ever truly be okay again?

Deciding not to address this question, Aqua opened the book of fairytales and flipped to the beginning of her favorite story, The Two Princesses of Bamarre. It was an epic tale of two sisters with drastically different dreams and personalities. Princess Meryl had a warrior's spirit. She dreamed of traveling the world slaying ogres, gryphons, and dragons while finding the cure to the deadly disease plaguing their land.

Her sister, Princess Addie, was a timid girl afraid of her own shadow. She depended on her sister for strength because she didn't have any of her own. Her dream was to live a peaceful, happy life and weave tapestries showcasing her sister's adventures. She dreamed of weaving tapestries showcasing her sister's adventures.

"However, in a twist in fate," Aqua muttered to herself, "Princess Meryl contracted the dreaded Grey Death before she could go on any of her adventures. Thus, Princess Addie, makes the decision to leave the safety of her kingdom in search of the cure to save her sister's life."

With nimble fingers, the young woman aimlessly flipped through the pages, barely scanning the words. She knew the story by heart, having read it over and over again as a child. There was something strangely compelling about the narrative of the fearful princess flinging herself into dangers she would have never considered facing before circumstance forced her to.

Love will do that though. Love will make you brave. Love will give you the strength to bear the weight of the world.

Aqua knew first hand the power of love. It compelled her to rush into the darkness and it was a decision she would never regret.

However... real love requires sacrifice.

She paid the price for her love. In some ways, even after all was said and done, she's still paying that price.

Feeling the tug of exhaustion, Aqua lay back on the grass with the open book resting beside her as she gazed at the dark sky. The image brought back memories of the dark realm. Her eyes fluttered. She could barely keep them open yet tried fighting against the sinking feeling of sleep. Her breathing quickened, brought on by the panic beginning to rise in her.

Falling asleep felt like being dragged into the darkness. The more she fought against it, the more it tugged at her body.

The process of falling asleep was one Aqua loathed, primarily because of the fear it induced. She was afraid to go to sleep, which in her mind was utterly ridiculous. It's a natural function of the body after all. She needed quality rest, especially after ten years of absolutely zero sleep. Time never moved in the realm of darkness, so the usual necessities of rest and sustenance weren't an issue for Aqua while she was there. She essentially remained in a physical limbo, stuck in a state of peak physical condition and unable to die unless struck down by the denizens of the dark...or the Heartless rather.

But now, outside of that realm, she felt the fragility of humanity.

She had to eat.

She had to sleep.

It's just unfortunate how similar falling asleep and falling to the depths of darkness feel.

For a few seconds, a spark of anger sparked inside of Aqua, which brought on the memory of hearing Mickey and Riku's voices after being left alone, floating in an inky abyss for far too long.

Her memories of the battle she waged against Mickey and Riku are shaky at best after the initial spark of rage that prompted a brief reprieve from sinking endlessly. The little she's able to see in her mind is only there because they told her about the battle after all was said and done.

The only clear memory she has of the fight is the sensation of falling back into the depths after claiming a few precious minutes above the surface. It was a crushing blow to her psyche to return there. All her hopes of returning home shattered.

_No one is coming. This is how you'll spend eternity._

In those moments, Aqua earnestly longed for death.

But then...a voice called her by name. For the first time in ages, someone called out to her.

More than anything, Aqua hated feeling scared and weak. She was like Princess Meryl, born with a desire to travel and have grand adventures slaying monsters plaguing the worlds. She wasn't supposed to end up helpless and afraid for her life. Her job was to rescue, not be rescued. She never sought to be rescued. She was a keyblade wielder, a warrior, and a fearsome adversary to those allied with darkness. She could take care of herself. She wanted to save herself.

But in that singular moment, Sora made her feel like it wasn't a sin to be weak. It was okay to cry and show vulnerability sometimes.

And for the first, and perhaps only time in her life, she was okay with letting someone swoop in and rescue her. She had desperately needed it then and still needed it now, though she would never admit it to herself, let alone anyone else.

Aqua was as determined as ever to handle her personal struggles alone.

Even so, for whatever reason, seeing Sora's smiling face in her mind's eye as he reached for her gave her the courage to face her fears.

"I'm grateful," she whispered, tears leaking from her eyes as she finally allowed them to close fully, taking a deep, shuddering breath as she did. Though the panic was still there, her breaths eventually evened out into a calm rhythm. The breeze caressed her face gently and she smiled. It was a start.

_"Thank you for saving me, Sora. Thank you...for being my hero..."_

Aqua fell asleep like that, dreaming peacefully about the boy who pulled her out from the depths and into the light again.

* * *

A/N: And that's the first chapter/potential end of the story? A part of me is tempted to leave things here even though I do have additional things written for this. I'm just not sure how I want to go about the whole Aqua/Sora thing, because if I do continue this that's the pairing I'll be pushing since I'm just not a fan of Terra in general. However, I could also make this an eventual Aqua/Terra fic...potentially. Not sure yet. I'm not helping to give you guys a feel for what I want to do, huh? XD I'm so out of practice when it comes to writing fanfiction right now. So, please leave some thoughts for me in that review box. Those will be extremely helpful in making some decisions for how I want to set things up if I choose to not leave this at one chapter. Thanks for reading! God bless you all! For those of you who have finished KH3, I sincerely hope you enjoyed the game. I know I did. That ending though! I can't! Why Nomura!? WHY!? You know KH fans are hungry for resolutions man! Gah!

*Additional note: The Two Princesses of Bamarre is a novel by author Gail Carson Levine. It's a great middle-grade novel full of adventure, romance, and a genuinely compelling story of sisterly bonds...kinda like Frozen in a way. Fun fact, Gail Carson Levine is famous for the novel Ella Enchanted, which I have not read, but I've seen the movie. Anyway, if you found the summary of The Two Princesses of Bamarre interesting, definitely look it up. It's a good book.


	2. Always On My Mind

A/N: And the story continues! Based on the reviews I've received thus far, (thank you so much for those by the way), you guys seem really enthusiastic about Sora/Aqua, which makes me super happy because I am really starting to like the idea of this pair. I'm also really happy that you guys seemed to enjoy the first chapter! I hope you will enjoy this one as well.

Disclaimer: (Because I totally forgot to write one last time) I do not own Kingdom Hearts. It is the property of Disney, Square Enix, and Tetsuya Nomura...a guy who has continuously played with our emotions, like seriously man! WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO US!?

Additional note: As stated in the previous chapter, this story contains spoilers for Kingdom Hearts 3. Additionally, every chapter will have a song title. Reason: Well, good music needs to be shared. Some titles will be Kingdom Hearts tracks you guys will be familiar with that tie into the general theme of the chapter while others are songs that either tie in to the chapter lyrically, inspired my work for a particular chapter based on the title/music, or is a just a great sounding song with a cool title that I want to share with all of you. I'll be sure to specify the non-Kingdom Hearts titled chapters so you can look up the songs at your leisure.

Hope you all enjoy the chapter!

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_Always On My Mind_

* * *

"Aqua! Oh, Aqua! You gonna wake up anytime soon?"

The young woman in question moaned, her body sore from laying on the hard ground all night.

"Aqua!"

"I'm...awake," Aqua mumbled, somewhat groggily. By slow degrees, she opened her eyes though she had to shield them a bit when the bright light of the sun invaded her senses.

"Good morning!" came Ventus' enthusiastic wail. Aqua's response was to yawn before gently twisting her gaze to the blonde boy sitting next to her. His mischievous grin was an instant mood lifter and Aqua couldn't help but giggle whenever he looked at her like that. He was definitely in the mood for games, which Aqua was happy to oblige him in any time he wanted. These days, Ven was often followed by a grey, cat-like creature named Chirithy. The little thing reminded her of the plush toys she used to collect before her keyblade training began. Despite the silliness of it, she reached out to the creature and lifted him off the ground.

"Waaaaah!"

"Aqua! What are you doing?" Ventus asked, blinking in confusion as she began rubbing her cheek against Chirithy's face.

"His fur is so soft and he's just so cute," she answered, practically cooing out the words she spoke, which somehow blocked the muffled shouting Chirithy was still doing. "Brings me back to my childhood."

Ventus coughed to hide the laugh that wanted to spill out. "Um... as happy as I am to see you carefree like this, Chirithy doesn't seem to be enjoying it."

"Hmm?" Aqua suddenly noticed how the grey creature was getting red in the face from yelling so much. "Oh! I'm sorry."

With gentle movements, she set him back on the ground. He didn't look very pleased.

"Good morning to you too, Master Aqua," Chirithy muttered with an indignant grunt.

Aqua cringed a little upon hearing her title. "There's really no need to be so formal, Chirithy. We're friends."

"Hard to believe that when you're attacking me with your FACE!"

Ventus burst into wild hysterics at that. Aqua joined him seconds later, unable to help herself despite feeling a bit embarrassed.

"Hey!" Chirithy cried out, looking especially hurt once Ventus fell back against the grass, cackling like a mad hatter. "It's not funny! It's not funny at all! I was assaulted just now! Assaulted I say! Where's the justice!?"

The blonde only laughed harder.

Aqua ceased in her giggling long enough to extend a final apology to Chirithy. He seemed to calm down a little after that, though he made sure to stick close to Ventus' side in case she got the notion to pick him up again without his permission.

Eventually Ventus' laughter subsided as a thoughtful expression overtook his features. Perplexed by this, Aqua followed his gaze to the radiantly blue sky above. A few clouds dotted those skies, though not enough to indicate an oncoming storm.

"It's weird."

Aqua, shaken out of her thoughts, shifted her attention back to Ventus. "What's weird?"

"Just...well, when I was asleep for all those years," he began, "I dreamed about Sora's adventures. I got to experience them with him and felt a lot of what he felt...being part of his heart and all. But now...when I sleep now it's just nothingness. And...a lot of the time I don't even want to sleep because...I worry about not waking up again."

Aqua tensed at Ventus' words, but otherwise said nothing. Words weren't necessary. Ventus was just venting some of his feelings, as he often did when they spent time alone together. It was strange how introspective he'd become despite still having a child-like spirit that often made him seem younger than he actually was.

Even while asleep, Ventus had changed too.

Perhaps Sora was the reason for that.

"You doing okay, Aqua?"

The sudden question surprised her. "What do you mean? I'm great."

"Come on, Aqua." He diverted his attention from the sky to look her in the eye. "Don't lie. You wake up screaming almost every night."

"They're just nightmares..."

"I wanted to see you last night," he cut in, determined to get what he needed to say out. "But Terra told me he'd handle it and that you'd be okay. So...are you okay? Honestly?"

Aqua smiled weakly at him, unable to give him a concrete answer. The truth is that she didn't know.

To make up for that, she merely muttered, "They're only nightmares, Ven. They'll go away...eventually."

She'd mumbled the words, so Ventus didn't quite catch all of them. Aqua knew this based on the look of confusion he was giving her, almost as if he were saying, "Could you repeat that? Not sure if I heard you clearly."

But Aqua wasn't going to repeat herself.

Once more, her words are lost to the void.

Upon not receiving the answer he wanted, Ventus sat up, scowling. "We made a promise, Aqua."

She nodded, reaching out beside her to pat his head. Though irritated with her silence, Ventus didn't pull away from her touch.

"Come on," he whispered dejectedly after a minute had gone by and Aqua still hadn't said so much as a word. "Just talk to me or at least talk to Ter..."

Before Ventus could finish speaking, Terra's voice broke through the silence. Aqua rose quickly, a grim frown overtaking her features. Ventus was quick on the uptake, breaking into a run after exchanging a quick glance with her that said, "_Guess we'll talk about this later_."

The two of them bolted over the hill and toward the main courtyard where Terra was standing, shouting out their names. His back was to them, so Ventus was quick to call out to him. Terra turned, his eyes bright as he caught sight of the boy and Aqua trailing closely behind.

"Where's the fire?" Ventus asked after he'd stopped running. He stood in front of Terra with his hands on his knees, panting a bit from overexertion. His ten year stasis dramatically reduced his stamina and endurance. Though still in relatively good shape, he had a tendency to use too much energy too quickly. His body often couldn't keep up.

Terra chuckled a bit as Aqua joined them, her gaze on the blonde as he continued panting. "No fire. Just a letter."

"From who?" she asked, happy to have a distraction from Ventus' probing questions and reminders of promises she wanted to keep but simply couldn't. When Terra didn't answer right away though, she shifted her attention to the envelope. The second she noted Mickey's lucky emblem she shuddered internally.

"_No...there can't be another threat to the worlds already..."_

"Oh wow! A letter from Mickey!" Ventus brushed past her, his excitement about the letter outweighing his exhaustion for the moment. Chirithy skittered about alongside him, sharing in his excitement as Terra held the envelope above his head in a teasing manner.

"It's addressed to all of us," he answered, a jovial sound to his voice as well. He held the envelope out to Aqua. "Would you like to do the honors?"

She took a light step back. "Oh...no let Ven do it. He's clearly the most excited..."

"Yeah, Terra, let me!"

Terra raised the letter above his head again when Ventus tried to reach for it. "You'll have to catch me first, Ven." In seconds he was off, racing around the courtyard and up the hill.

"What! Oh, come on, Terra!" Ventus took off in a sprint after him but stopped briefly to glance back at Aqua. "You coming?"

"Yeah...I'm right behind you..."

Satisfied with her answer, Ventus ran on ahead, but Aqua stayed back feeling a little apprehensive. Given Terra's playful attitude, he'd already read the letter and determined it was nothing serious, otherwise he wouldn't be playing keep away with it to begin with. Still...

She brought one of her hands to her chest and closed her eyes. Feeling her heart beat beneath her palm helped keep her nerves from escalating. There was a time when she couldn't feel the organ beating at all...when she was in the depths...sinking deeper and deeper into nothingness...

"No," she whispered, shaking her head in an almost violent manner. "That's over now. I never have to go back there..."

"Master Aqua, who are you talking to?"

Aqua jumped a bit, her gaze drifting to Chirithy. He stared up at her inquisitively and despite her better judgment, she decided to just be honest.

"Myself...I thought you were with Ven."

Chirithy didn't seem bothered by her admission. "You've been through a lot, Master Aqua."

Aqua turned away from him, opting to hurry along before Ventus and Terra became concerned and circled back. "Please don't call me that. Just Aqua is fine."

"But you're a keyblade master," Chirithy stated. "It's a title to wear with pride, is it not?"

Clenching her fists, Aqua continued forward without answering his question. "Just Aqua is fine."

"Okay, Just Aqua."

The blue-haired woman almost groaned in response but decided not to make a big deal of it. There were more important things to deal with at present.

She eventually caught up with Terra and Ventus, both of which were still playing around. Ventus had the letter now, but Terra had knocked him to the ground and was tickling his sides relentlessly.

"Give it back, Ven, or it's gonna get worse."

"Noooooo! Hahahahaha! Stop it! Hahahaha! Please stop!"

Aqua, giggling while rolling her eyes, gently plucked the letter from Ventus' hands. "Looks like I'll be doing the honors after all."

"You came to his rescue too soon," Terra joked while Ventus tried to catch his breath from laughing so hard. "I almost got him to snort."

"Did not!"

"Did so."

"Not!"

"Uh huh."

"Nuh uh!"

Aqua glanced between her two boys as the banter continued. Terra had Ventus in a light choke hold and was having a great time messing up his hair. The younger boy stuck out his tongue and struggled to get away, but was having absolutely no luck in doing so. It was a cute sight that warmed Aqua's heart enough to take the plunge and open the seemingly harmless letter.

Just as she'd suspected, Terra had already broken the seal, so she read it to herself while the other two keyblade wielders wrestled and joked around.

_To Terra, Aqua, and Ventus,_

_I hope things are going well for you all. We're meeting up at Destiny Islands for a party tonight! With Sora taking off right after the fighting ended, well, we didn't get a chance to celebrate Xehanort's defeat. I know things won't be the same without Sora and Kairi with us, but Riku suggested we all get together and celebrate anyway since the two of them wouldn't want us to be moping around when we should be enjoying ourselves. After all, Sora said he and Kairi would both return home, so we have to trust and believe that he will, no matter how long it might take. After all, he's never let us down before. I'm sure he'll be back soon._

_Anyway, feel free to come by if you want. All of our other friends will be there too. I'm sure Ventus would like to talk with Roxas some more since they were both in Sora's heart for a good long while. In a way they're like brothers, don't you think?_

_Hope to see you all tonight!_

_~Mickey_

"A party, huh?" Aqua whispered, not entirely sure how she felt about the prospect. However, before she could really think about what to do, Ventus pried the letter out of her hand and began reading with vigor. In seconds his eyes lit up and in that moment, Aqua knew they were going to the gathering on Destiny Islands...whether she wanted to or not.

"Can we go!" he asked, peering between his two older friends. "Please!"

Aqua and Terra exchanged glances. Terra's eyes seemed to ask if she was up for going and though the blue-haired wielder really wasn't sure at the moment, she nodded.

"Of course, Ven," he said, smiling brightly.

"Awesome! This is going to be so fun!"

Terra glanced at Aqua then back at Ventus. "Say Ven, while we're preparing for departure, why don't you get some light training in."

Ventus paused in his celebrating to look between the two of them. In seconds a devious smirk worked its way on to his face.

"Are you just trying to get me out of your hair so you two can have some _special_ alone time again?"

"Wh-what?" Terra stuttered, blushing furiously while Aqua stood stock still, not giving a reaction one way or the other. Given her current emotional state, she wasn't sure what her relationship with Terra even was. Clearly he wanted to talk to her about their conversation last night but had been avoiding it up until now.

"I'm totally right, aren't I?" Ventus pointed at Terra's face. "Look at how red your face is."

Terra audibly grumbled, turning away from the both of them.

Aqua gave a halfhearted smile before answering Ventus. "We have some things to talk about, Ven. It won't take long."

Ventus just kept smiling that knowing smile. "Alright. Fine." He turned away. I'm going to go see where Chirithy ran off to. Let's meet back in the main courtyard in an hour."

"Sure," Aqua answered, waving at the younger boy as he darted off to find his little friend. "See you in a little while."

Once Ventus was gone, Aqua crossed her arms over her chest. The tension in the air was palpable, not to mention awkward.

"_Why do I get the feeling I'm about to be interrogated?"_

Without missing a beat, Terra broke the silence, saying, "Ven's worried about you too, you know."

Aqua nodded, allowing her arms to fall back to her sides while fighting against the urge to roll her eyes in annoyance. "He told me as much, but I'm honestly fine..."

"I'm not sure if that's true," Terra interrupted, turning around to look her in the eye now. "You wake up nearly every night screaming or crying, and every time either of us try to help, you push us away."

"_Ever consider the idea that maybe I don't want your help?"_

The words in her head were fleeting, but true. Her lips pressed into a thin line while her hands involuntarily molded into tight fists. She hated feeling this way. Why couldn't she be the person she was before?

Terra noted the subtle changes in Aqua's stance as she pivoted a bit on her heels. Try as she might to hide it, there was a hostile edge within her seemingly indifferent expression. And once her back was to him, the hostility became even more apparent. His words weren't words she wanted to hear. He knew that. He knew Aqua's mannerisms and quirks better than his own, or at least he had, but...

Choosing not to think about it, Terra took a few steps toward her.

"Aqua...we made a promise..."

"To always be honest with each other," Aqua finished, her gaze drifting to the blue sky above them as a certain missing keyblade wielder came to mind. "I remember, Terra. We promised not to hide things or push each other away."

"Aqua..."

His voice trailed off for a moment. Once again, she felt his hands on her shoulders.

It sent a chill through her. Her body instantly tensed at the contact.

Terra wasn't in control of himself back then, but Aqua could still remember the feel of his hands around her neck as he tried to choke the life out of her. Despite the decade that had passed, it was something she remembered with extreme clarity, even more so because of her time drifting in a place where she couldn't breathe at all.

That feeling...the inability to draw breath truly frightened her.

"Aqua?"

She tried to relax her shoulders a little. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt Terra's feelings. She wasn't like this because of him. It wasn't his fault.

She chose it.

"I'm just...adjusting to this life again," she breathed, not sure if that was the truth or not. "I'm not pushing you or Ven away. I love you both so much...I'd never..."

A knot formed in her throat as she turned in his arms, staring at the crimson X crossing over his chest. She raised her hand unconsciously, placing her palm against the spot where his heart rested beneath muscle and bone.

That sense of breathlessness filled her again.

Terra's grip barely tightened on her shoulders. "You and Ven...the two of you are everything to me." His hands gently drifted toward her face. "I couldn't bear losing either of you again. So please..."

He was barely touching her, but as he cupped her face in his hands, Aqua felt as if she were choking again. Hoping to put such dark thoughts out of her mind, she stared deeply into Terra's eyes and was overwhelmed by the adoration she saw in his weary gaze.

Even so, she couldn't escape the terror freezing the blood in her veins. She stood paralyzed, powerless, unable to think clearly or breathe properly.

This was the feeling she despised most. She felt so weak like this...

Terra said something else then. Perhaps it was a plea. Perhaps it was just her name. Either way, Aqua didn't hear his voice, only felt his grip tighten before he leaned towards her, pressing his lips to hers for the second time since they were first reunited.

The feeling of disgust at the sensation returned with a vengeance.

This should have felt perfect. She had wanted this so badly for so long.

The desire to love Terra the same way he loved her was there. It may have been wrong to do so, but Aqua couldn't stop herself from responding to his heart's most earnest wish. So, with great reluctance, she kissed him back and hated herself for as long as their lips remained in contact.

After what felt like an eternity, Terra drew back and looked into her eyes once more. They clouded over with an emotion Aqua was unable to place, and at that particular moment she wasn't all that concerned. She just wanted it to stop, but instead Terra closed in again, his lips making contact in a way that was a rougher than before, more demanding.

This time she didn't kiss him back. She couldn't bring herself to do it again.

When he pulled away, he pressed his forehead against hers, his breath ghosting along her cheek. She could feel his heart racing beneath her hand.

"I love you, Aqua."

She didn't say a word. She couldn't say anything at all.

A long moment of silence passed and Aqua wondered if he was waiting for her to return the words.

She loved him. She did. Just...not like this. Not anymore.

A fierce wind broke through the trees surrounding them, alerting them both to the passage of time.

Slowly, Terra released her, a sadness in his expression as he took careful steps back. "I'm sorry. It's just...I feel like I'm losing you, Aqua."

"_That's because you're looking for the old me,_" she thought, forcing herself look him square in the eye. "You won't lose me. You can never lose me, Terra."

Why did that feel like a lie?

He smiled, seemingly reassured. "I just need you to know that I can be strong for you, Aqua. You don't have to shoulder everything alone anymore. That's over now."

Aqua gave a simple nod of acknowledgement. "I'm fine. Really, Terra. You and Ven don't need to worry about me. As long as you two are okay, I'm okay too."

Terra searched her expression for anything hinting to the contrary, but after a few seconds he resigned to let the matter go for now. He stroked her cheek lovingly with his thumb then placed a chaste kiss against her forehead.

"I'm going to see what Ven is up to," he announced once he'd put distance between them again. "We'll take things slow."

Again, Aqua merely nodded her acknowledgement.

Terra left after that, clearly unsure of whether things had gone well or if he'd made things even more awkward between them. Once he was out of earshot, Aqua chuckled darkly to herself, musing on how he didn't have the slightest idea how she was really feeling. Right now...she didn't even know what she was feeling.

A war waged inside her heart. The sunshine, the scents of flowers carried in the crisp breeze, and normal human interaction couldn't erase the effects of the frigid, inky depths she'd been trapped in for so long. Even outside the realm of darkness, the isolation, fear, and breathlessness accompanied her wherever she went.

But regardless of this, she still had to live on. She had to function for the sake of Terra and Ventus. Terra had been through quite the ordeal himself after all. Aqua knew that. He struggled against darkness for the same amount of time, just in a different way.

As another soft breeze passed through the Land of Departure, Aqua once again lifted her gaze to the sky.

"Destiny Islands." The words came out in an whisper she barely heard herself say. "_Someday...__"_

Once more she brought her hand to her chest, closing her eyes as Sora's face came to mind. At the same time, she felt her heartbeat quicken in a way almost unnoticeable. Like the subtle fluttering of a butterfly's wings or the distant roar of the ocean inside a seashell, it was something easily ignored or forgotten.

But after a decade of near nothingness surrounding her, the little things held more meaning than ever before.

She would never allow herself to lose sight of even the smallest of blessings.

Whatever her feelings toward Sora were, Aqua cherished them.

"_Someday you'll find your way home too."_

* * *

A/N: Next chapter we're off to Destiny Islands! And it is there that things will start picking up! I'm genuinely excited to get the ball rolling. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter because it was a fun one to write, especially the interactions between Aqua, Ventus, and Chirithy. Btw, haven't played Union X, so if Chirithy's characterization is off well...it's off. In my head, I picture this particular Chirithy as being a helpful friend yet extremely sassy. Chirithy won't be part of the story much anyway, so if the characterization is off severely...let's just not worry about it. I'll fix it at another time. Now on the other hand, if Ventus, Terra, or Aqua are off in ways they ultimately shouldn't be, don't hesitate to tell me so, especially when it comes to Ventus and Terra right now. While they won't be in this story much either, when they are here I want to get them as close to their game counterparts as possible while enhancing them in ways that make them (Terra) more interesting.

Fun fact I just want to rant about: So, I struggled between choosing a title for this chapter. It came down to a choice between Always On My Mind and Don't Think Twice. It was difficult because many of the lyrics of Don't Think Twice fit into this chapter narratively. Aqua is saying and acting in ways that don't reflect what's truly going on inside of her, and that song places special emphasis on things like this. However, Always On My Mind ultimately tied into the theme of the chapter more because there are three main things that are constantly on Aqua's mind in one form or another: The realm of darkness, her past memories of Terra and Ventus, and Sora. Ultimately, the title fit with the theme of the chapter better and this chapter has a softer tone overall, so the fact that Always On My Mind is an instrumental track with traces of the iconic Dearly Beloved theme mixed in made this the best title choice. But boy did I struggle! Haha! Alright. I'm done ranting now. See you next time!


	3. Voice of No Return

A/N: Before anything else, I want to thank all of you who have reviewed so far. I have really enjoyed reading your responses to this story and I'm really happy you enjoy my writing for Aqua's character and her interactions with Terra, Ventus, and even Chirithy. I'm especially glad you guys enjoyed sassy Chirithy. To quote one of my reviewers, "Sassy Chirithy is good Chirithy", so we're going with it. Haha! Thank you all very much for the compliments and interest in the story. I'm really grateful to you all for the input. It's extremely helpful, and encouraging as well. I hope you guys will continue to enjoy this story. Thank you bunches! Love you all! God bless you guys!

Warning: This chapter contains spoilers from the ending scene of Kingdom Hearts 3. So if you've been reading this story without having played through the game, this is the final spoiler warning I'm going to give since it won't be necessary to give spoiler warnings once this chapter is over. That is all. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts is owned by Disney, Square Enix, and Tetsuya Nomura, the notorious game director who has left our hearts shattered and our minds in confusion yet again.

Song title note: The song I chose to title this chapter after is an OST from NieR: Automata. It's a beautiful acoustic piece with haunting vocal work from Emi Evans. Definitely look it up and take a listen if you feel so inclined.

* * *

_Voice of No Return_

* * *

Destiny Islands was a warm place, and not just in the obvious sense. There was a certain atmosphere that made it unlike any other world Aqua had been to. Something in the way the seagulls hummed through the air and in the refreshing smell of saltwater made it something special. Even the sand was strangely unique. The individual grains were soft rather than coarse, making it easy for the particles to slip through her fingers without the worry of getting grains stuck beneath her fingernails. Sand often left a unpleasant residue that felt like the driest dirt you could find, but such wasn't the case on these islands.

Everything was simple. Beautiful. Effortless.

Aqua recalled when this world was lost to darkness. Though essentially a dead world at the time, it had been the only one where bright colors existed. The sky remained a brilliant blue and the sands were white, almost like snow. Something akin to sunlight made the world shine, even in a place where light shouldn't have been able to exist at all.

Ironically enough, it was the one world Aqua was sad to see return to the realm of light back then.

She shook her head, forcing herself to return to the present day.

On the play island, everyone was playing games and laughing. Despite all of them coming from different worlds, they were here together, celebrating the defeat of Xehanort. Aqua watched serenely from her place by the sidelines with her fingers aimlessly drawing patterns in the sand.

She observed Ventus and Roxas as they played yet another round of Ultimate Frisbee with Axel and Isa. Terra was acting as a referee this time around, making sure the four of them actually followed the rules this time. It was a comical sight, especially because Roxas and Axel both kept trying to tackle each other down to prevent catches. Isa sighed endlessly when this happened while Ventus laughed, and Terra barked out orders for the two of them to play fair. At one point Terra ended up tripping over Roxas when he tried to stop the boy from cheating yet again.

Chuckling softly, she diverted her attention from the antics of the game to the edge of the ocean where Namine and Xion were collecting seashells. They chatted quietly, only raising their voices when they found a particularly pretty or large shell. Namine screamed once upon finding a few tiny white crabs, cooing about how cute they were while Xion tilted her head in confusion at the blonde girl's excitement.

A little ways off from them, Hayner, Pence, and Olette were helping Donald, Goofy, and Mickey build sandcastles. Music played from speakers in the distance, though a lot of it was drowned out by continuous laughter and the roar of the ocean's waves crashing against the shore.

It was a serene environment, but it was missing a vital piece.

Aqua had always wondered what gave this world its light when it had been lost to the darkness. She was beginning to see...rather_ feel_ the answer.

Peaceful as it was here, it didn't feel whole without him.

"Hey! Aqua!" Ventus roared from his spot on the beach, waving enthusiastically. Roxas smacked the back of his head, playfully demanding for his look-alike to get back into the game.

Terra, momentarily distracted from his duties as referee, glanced behind him to smile at her. "You want to play?"

Aqua shook her head. "I'm enjoying the view from here."

And she meant it. Watching everyone interact and have fun was far more gratifying to her than being part of it herself.

Part of the reason she was able to survive the realm of darkness without getting corrupted for as long as she had was because she didn't get lonely easily. Though not necessarily shy, she liked to keep to herself rather than interact when she wasn't 100% comfortable. As a Keyblade wielder, her job was to keep balance and not meddle in the affairs of other worlds.

In many ways, the role suited her personality perfectly.

"If you're sure..."

"I'm sure."

Terra chuckled, then turned his attention back to the game.

Left alone to watch the scenes unfold and think, Aqua couldn't help the smile spreading over her face. However, despite the general happiness she felt, there was no shaking the lingering sensation of emptiness...as if she were a ghost watching over those she left behind.

"You don't like participating much either do you?"

Aqua blinked in surprise as Riku sat down next to her. Though the party had been his idea, the white-haired warrior hadn't been present much throughout the celebrations aside from introducing Namine to those who didn't already know her and playing one game of Ultimate Frisbee with the others. After that he'd disappeared from Aqua's sight entirely.

At her lack of response, he looked down at the sand, his eyes widening when he noticed something.

"Hey, that looks like Sora."

Aqua's attention followed the path Riku's line of vision made for her. There in the sand, beneath her dirtied fingertips was a rough image of Sora's face, spiky hair and all. She hadn't been paying attention to the movement of her fingers. She'd merely been doodling in the sand, a habit she picked up when she reached the realm in between and was relegated to waiting thanks to the loss of her weapon.

"Oh..." She paused, studying the image she unconsciously created. "I guess it is..."

"He's missing an eyebrow though," Riku chided playfully, moving his hand to her drawing. With a careful movement of his index finger, he quickly rectified the issue after glancing at the eyebrow she had drawn. "I got to say though, you nailed the goofy grin. No pun intended."

As he said this, Donald started grumbling loudly from beneath a pile of sand Goofy accidentally dumped on him. Riku noticed this and started laughing. Aqua was quick to join him, especially once Donald started chasing Goofy around the beach, waving his magic wand like a club.

"I tell you, those two never change." he proclaimed, still chuckling a little.

Aqua nodded in agreement, grinning easily at Donald's loud squalling as he continued to waddle angrily about the beach. "They really don't."

"Maybe that's why they got along with Sora so well," Riku commented, resting his arm over a raised knee. "The three of them really did make a great team."

"They did..." Aqua's voice trailed off, her cerulean gaze drifting to his image in the sand. It instantly called the memory of Sora reaching for her, and soon she found herself longing for the feel of his hand in hers.

Though it only happened once, she remembered the tingle of warmth the contact with him provided.

It felt so simple. Beautiful. Effortless.

A pang shot through her heart.

"_He should be here."_

"Aqua? What's wrong?"

"What?" she asked, her voice sounding a bit strained to her. It felt as if she were trying to talk past something constricting her throat.

"You're crying, Aqua."

Only then did she feel the tears sliding down her cheeks.

"Oh?" She brought a hand to her cheek, confusion clear in her expression.

Riku seemed to read into the unspoken reason for her tears, but waited to speak until Aqua was through wiping them away.

"He'll be back," he whispered reassuringly, gazing upon all their friends. "When Sora makes a promise, he keeps it. So..." For a moment he couldn't speak, suddenly distracted by a welcome sight at the smallest play island. For a couple seconds he was sure he hallucinating, but everyone on the beach had stopped moving, like they had noticed it too.

Aqua waited for Riku to keep going, but when he abruptly stood, an almost smug smile lifting the corners of his mouth, she finally noticed how the vast array of sounds around her had come to a halt. All of their friends were looking in the same direction with smiles or looks of awe on their faces.

She followed suit, training her eyes on the smallest of the play islands.

Two figures were sitting on the bent over trunk of a palm tree, staring out at the sunset. The first figure was a girl and the other was a boy with familiar spiky hair.

"Is that..." Aqua didn't finish the question, instead getting to her feet. "_Is it really them? Did they make it back?"_

Riku's sudden laughter was a welcome sound. "Well, that was fast. We didn't even get to really miss him yet."

Everyone around them stood in stunned silence at the sight of Kairi and Sora sitting in their favorite spot, now gazing into each other's eyes. It was a gorgeous scene that stirred Aqua's heart with joy she couldn't express. Everything had truly worked out for the best now. Everyone was back where they belonged.

"_They really are a perfect fit for each other,_" she mused happily as new tears leaked from her eyes. She was truly happy to see both of them. She knew Kairi was Sora's light in the darkness. It was why he disappeared in the first place, to reclaim what he lost.

But now he could finally live happily, peacefully...

Ultimately, that's what Aqua wanted for Sora. He deserved to be happy after everything he'd done to protect the worlds and all of them from Xehanort's vindictive plans.

"_Welcome back..."_

The thoughts tapered off as Sora's shadow leaned closer to Kairi's. She could tell from the way he was moving that they were about to kiss.

And then...in the next second...

He began to disappear.

_"No..."_

Aqua started running before her mind could catch up.

"Wait! Aqua!"

Riku's voice was right behind her, but she barely heard him. All she could focus on was Sora vanishing away.

"_This isn't happening. He can't be fading. He just can't!__"_

Aqua ran as fast as she could across the bridge leading to the final play island, the setting sun baring down on her skin. More and more, Sora's image faded out from sight.

"_Don't go. Please don't go."_

She managed to say his name despite the horrible feeling of breathlessness overtaking her senses. The sound was far too low. No one should have been able to hear her.

But Sora's body shifted in her direction ever so slightly, as if he'd somehow heard her voice calling.

Their gazes locked for a single instant...

And then he was gone.

Aqua stopped running, her breaths ragged as she stood over Kairi, who slumped over toward the ground the instant Sora's image dissipated. She watched the red-headed girl wrap her arms around herself, and then, without warning, a blood curdling wail tore through the peaceful air.

Riku rushed by in a blur Aqua barely caught sight of. In the next instant he had Kairi in his arms. She continued to scream against his chest, shouting out words Aqua couldn't begin to process even though she'd seen the whole situation unfold with her own eyes.

"He's gone," the girl sobbed. "Sora's gone and...he's not...he's not..."

"He's not what?" Aqua questioned, her voice eerily calm despite the intensely emotional scene in front of her. Riku had gone silent, his eyes wide with a type of horror she'd never seen in a person's gaze before.

Eventually, though it clearly took a lot of effort to talk past the sobs, Kairi managed to answer Aqua's question.

"He isn't coming back. He's...S-Sora's...dead. He's dead."

_Dead._

The word repeated in Aqua's mind.

She felt herself stop breathing and the lack of oxygen made her sway a bit as the news settled over her like a heavy blanket on a corpse.

"_Breathe,_" she thought to herself, her eyes on Riku as his grip tightened on the girl in his arms. His emotions were slowly spiraling downward and Aqua knew he and Kairi were going to need a few hours alone. Sora was their best friend, not hers. She hadn't known him a fraction of the time Riku and Kairi had.

The connection she felt with him was shallow at best. She knew that. Even so...

Her heart was sick with grief. She wanted to wrap Kairi and Riku in her arms and cry with them because Sora meant something to her too.

She loved him too. She loved him the same way she loved Terra and Ven.

_Dead._

Losing Sora felt like losing the two of them all over again and that type of sorrow was almost too overwhelming to stomach.

But now wasn't the time to let herself succumb to grief. Already she could hear shouts from behind her.

_Dead._

Terra's voice was approaching the fastest.

She pivoted on her heel, deciding to relay the information to him before the others could bombard a clearly distraught young girl with questions she wouldn't have the emotional capacity to answer.

Aqua herself barely had the means to function emotionally. Something mechanical was taking over for the moment. It was a monster born from a stern upbringing, rigorous battle training, and a decade enduring psychological torment. Yes, this part of her was the ugliest part, yet she needed the monster to survive through moments like this...through pain like this.

_Dead?_

The word repeated on and on in her head.

"Terra," she called once he was close enough. "We need to keep everyone else away from Kairi and Riku right now. They're...mourning."

The frown on his face deepened at the news. "I see. So...he really did fade..."

"Yes," Aqua cut in, not in the mood for him to state the obvious. "Sora is gone. His heart has disappeared from this world along with his body. He's..."

She couldn't bring herself to say the word. To her, it was a lie.

He faded out of view and he wasn't in the realm of light anymore, that much was certain.

But _dead_?

No.

Those eyes were not the eyes of someone dying. The eyes Aqua saw were her own.

Sora chose destruction to save the girl he loved, but in no way did it mean he was gone forever. He couldn't be gone forever. Not him. Not Sora.

"I'll...tell the others," Terra muttered, glancing briefly behind his shoulder as Donald, Goofy, and Mickey raced toward them. Ventus was close behind, an expression of grief etched on his face as he fixed his stare on her.

Aqua couldn't bear to look him in the eye.

The rest of the gang remained on the island. Aqua gazed at the multitude of faces, seeing the mixed looks of confusion and concern in each expression.

Roxas was the only exception. His gaze remained fixed on the ground with his hands balled up into tight fists.

He looked identical to Ven, but his personality couldn't have been more different. He had a somber aura, even in moments of happiness...similar to how she was.

But this similarity isn't what grabbed her attention. There was something off in his eyes, almost as if he knew what happened to Sora. He didn't need the news relayed to him. He knew. He could feel it.

However, rather than sadness, there was exasperation in his expression, a look that said, "That idiot's gotten himself into trouble again."

Eventually, the blonde dual wielder, having felt her watchful gaze on him, stared directly in to her eyes. She didn't look away. Even as Terra began to tell Donald, Goofy, Mickey, and Ventus the dreaded news, she kept her eyes on Roxas. Through sounds of sniffling from Donald and Goofy and the echo of Kairi's sobs a short distance away, Aqua kept her focus on Roxas. He was searching for something in her eyes.

She had no idea what he was looking for, but she let him look because of his direct connection to Sora.

_"He would know the truth better than anyone...wouldn't he?__ He used to be part of his heart too."_

Everyone here had been touched by Sora's light in one way or another. He was the one who brought them together, and the one who mended the hurt so many of them harbored for so long.

"_This isn't the ending he deserves.__"_

_Aqua._

The memory of his voice brought her to her knees without warning. A tiny, almost inaudible sob retched itself from her mouth in the same instant, and if not for the abrupt fall to her knees, no one would have noticed her pain at all. She stared at her knees, struggling against emotions straining to break free.

Aqua tried to focus on breathing so the tears wouldn't come.

Even now, despite everyone seeing her sudden collapse, Aqua was desperately fighting to keep a small shred of her pride.

The person who made her feel like it was okay to cry was gone.

"Aqua." Terra's hands pressed against her shoulders. They were there to soothe but created the opposite effect because of how disarming his presence became whenever he touched her like this. She always felt breathless around him. She was afraid if she became too vulnerable around him, Xehanort would find a way to possess him again and strangle her to death.

She'd hallucinated such things in the past.

"It's...not fair." Her shoulders began to shake beneath Terra's hands as the tears finally came. They dripped from her face and onto her knees. "_Why do things always end up this way?"_

"Aqua, please don't...

"Sora should be here...with his friends." she interrupted, her voice sharp, bitter.

_"He should be here...with me."_

* * *

A/N: That's the end of this chapter. Be sure to let me know what you think in that review box! This one was a little difficult at points, mainly because I didn't want this to be too dramatic or angst driven, especially on Aqua's part since she's really only starting to notice that she has these strong feelings for Sora. And at the moment, those feelings are definitely more friendship based in her mind, so the lines where it says she loves Sora the same way she loves Terra and Ventus were written in to sell that point. The final line definitely hints to something potentially romantic, which I wasn't sure I wanted to include yet. Ultimately I decided to keep it in because it's something Aqua can reflect on later. But again, if you guys felt that anything was off, let me know and I'll do what I can to make these scenes better. On a whole, I like how this one turned out a lot. I hope you did too.

Additional note: Another song I listened to a lot while writing this is another NieR Automata OST entitled The Tower. That piece is...well you'll have to listen to it for yourself. It sells the despair. That's all I can say. Thanks again for reading! See you guys in the next one!


	4. Voice of Light

A/N: Before anything else, I just want to extend another thank you to my reviewers. I'm really happy with the response this story has gotten so far. Thank you guys for taking the time to write out your thoughts to me. I'll keep doing my best to entertain you guys. Having said that...

Warning: You are not ready for this chapter. Not even close to ready. You're about to find out I'm low-key evil. Muhahahahaha!

Disclaimer: Because I am low-key evil at the moment, I'm not going to write one for this chapter.

Title song: Voice of Light composed by Sawano Hiroyuki with vocals from Aika Sekiyama. The few English lyrics you can hear in this song really tie into the theme of this chapter a lot. I couldn't find a full translation of the song lyrics, but it's a fantastic song I've been listening to for two or three years now, so definitely take a listen if you feel so inclined.

* * *

_Voice of Light_

* * *

_This world is...creepy._

_I've been to someplace like it before, minus the creepy. It was a serene world with pure blue skies dotted with soft clouds and a glass floor flooded with water so clear it reflected the sky above. _

_Without a doubt, it was one of the most breathtaking places I ever saw._

_And that's saying something. I've seen a lot of different worlds. Can't remember any of them at the moment, but I know I saw them. The experiences I lived through are still part of me ,and so are all the friends I made along the way. Somewhere, they're still thinking of me._

_I only wish I could remember all their names and faces. All I can manage to see is a vague silhouette of most of them. Others are clearer though. I can even recall a few names._

_There's Donald and Goofy. The King._

_Riku._

_Kairi..._

_Kairi is the person I'm able to picture most easily, and on some level I know she's part of the reason I'm suspended here now. She was someone I had to save. I made that promise to her and kept it. There were other promises I made to her too...but those promises are lost to me now. I can't remember. Hard as I try to, I just can't call details like that to mind. Not of her...not of anyone._

_It's not that my memories are gone. They're just incomplete. There's a lot missing._

_That should bother me, yet for some reason it makes me laugh. Not entirely sure why. Maybe it's because the few memories I'm able to hold on to serve no real purpose other than to keep me from thinking about where I am now and how...disorienting it is._

_Instead of pure blue skies, the void above is a really sinister looking red. The clouds are black and sometimes they drip inky blobs of goo against the flooded floor below me. The water remains clear despite the goo that mixes in from time to time. Like in the other world I saw, the floor is a reflection of the sky. Everywhere I look is a hue of that nasty crimson color and well..._

_This place isn't...scary exactly, but it's not a fun time either._

_It's eerily silent. No one else exists here._

_I'm not used to being alone like this. It's...lonely._

_Being able to see the silhouettes and faces of people I knew and sacrificed my existence for is comforting...but it hurts too. It hurts because I don't actually remember them. I know they're friends of mine only because of the feelings that stir inside when their images appear in my mind._

_There are others that appear too though. Enemies from my past._

_I don't really remember them either, but seeing some of their faces puts me on edge. Their presence in my thoughts bring back past fears. I set those fears aside back then because I was left without another option. There were people I had to find or protect or both. There were people beside me too, giving me strength. That much I know instinctively. _

_But now..._

_It's just me here._

_I have no power in this world. My body is gone and my heart is in pieces. Only a few of those pieces remain with me, and those pieces bring comfort and pain in equal measure._

_And my soul? It's only in tact because something out there is keeping it whole._

_As for what that something is...beats me._

_But since there's nothing else for me to do, I'll make a guess._

_I have one complete memory. Just one._

_The instant before I...died I guess...I heard someone call out to me._

_She spoke softly, and I almost didn't hear her. I was distracted too because Kairi was in front of me. Nothing should have been able to pull my attention away from her._

_But I heard my name. Sora. _

_I only remember it because she said it. That's my name. Sora._

_The experiences I keep seeing are real experiences I had. I was a real person. I lived._

_And I remember her name too...because it was the last thought I had before ending up here._

_Aqua._

_Our eyes locked for only a second, but in her eyes I saw myself. Who I was and who I still needed to be stared back at me through her._

_It was strange...and beautiful._

_I...wanted to stay._

_I...wanted to stay because I didn't understand._

_Why did she look at me like that? Why did she call out to me with so much sadness and longing in her eyes?_

_Why is her voice the only voice I remember?_

_Those are questions I would really like answers to, but __I'm not sure I'll get the chance to ask. Guess we'll see. Anything is possible. Right?_

_There's no one to talk to here, but I like to pretend someone is listening out there. That somehow...my voice will find another soul longing for the way home._

* * *

Unexpected things are always going to happen in life. There is no avoiding this truth. In the end, each of us are only human, regardless of the power we may gain.

Some things are simply out of our control.

I'm beginning to understand that now.

So what's left once a person comes to this conclusion? Do we simply give up? Do we simply go through the motions and let the troubles of life toss us from tempest to tempest until nothing remains but a bitter shell?

There are many that do. I did.

Thanks to a special friend whose lost his way, I was granted a second chance to live.

Only one word describes the position I find myself in, standing before the grave of my former master.

Unexpected.

Terra, Ventus, and I originally marked this spot with his keyblade, but after only one night the weapon returned to me, naming me its new master once and for all. When this happened, the three of us opted to create a replica of the weapon. We studied the old keyblade meticulously, gathered materials together, and then, with the help of some crafting and fire magic, pieced the model keyblade together and placed it here on this hill.

This was how we spent most of our first week together after ten years of separation.

Studying the copies of our individual Wayfinder charms hanging on the reef of flowers we hung across the handle of the model keyblade, I reached into my pocket and withdrew a different charm. A simple chain with a silver crown pendant hanging on the end.

"Master...you would chastise me for going on a fool's errand like this, but..." I let the words hang in the air, smiling fondly at the memory of a hand reaching for mine in the depths. "I know he's out there somewhere. I have to try...because he saved me."

Curling my fingers around the pendant, I brought it to close to my heart and closed my eyes. "I won't let this become a grave decoration too. This belongs with Sora and I'm going to bring it to him. No matter what..."

In my mind, I could almost hear the warm sound of the Master's laugh.

_May your heart by your guiding key._

* * *

**_Data corruption detected. Immediate action required._**

_Hmm...looks like someone scrambled the data again. In order to have a proper account of this branch, I'm going to have to find the missing pieces, then put them back in chronological order. Ugh! I hate it when people just barge in and makes a mess of **my** meticulous work! I have a system! Why does no one respect it? **Why!?**_

_Well, what's done is done, I suppose. No use in complaining about it. Just need to fix it._

_Now...it looks like the scrambling issue begins immediately after Sora's disappearance and continues up to the point Master Aqua decides to find him, so there can't be too much data between those two points..._

_Oh come on!_

_Three days! Three days worth of information? I have to unscramble it all?_

_I'm going to murder whoever messed with this. I had this perfectly laid out and...just...gah!_

_Okay. Okay. Calm down. First things first. One step at a time. Fix this mess then murder some people. Now...how to do it...?_

_Oh! I know! A system reset and data overhaul should fix the errors popping up. From there I can set things straight again._

A gloved hand moved to a dial with the word "Reset" labeled neatly above it.

_Alright. Make magic for me now!_

The computer in front of this person emitted a sharp "ding" sound before a mechanical voice broke through the speakers.

**System reset initiated. Begin data re-calibration?**

_Now, just a few quick keystrokes. There we go!_

Leaning back in a tall black revolving chair, the mysterious person watches words and images dance along the screen.

**Now beginning data re-calibration.**

The mysterious person began whistling a somber tune to pass the time while the computer went about its work on the data.

**ERROR ERROR!**

The whistling came to an abrupt halt.

"What!? Are you kidding me?"

**The data selected cannot be fully re-calibrated. Please select another operation.**

_This is more serious than I thought. Looks like I'll have to take the manual approach to this. What a pain. It takes so much longer this way._

The gloved fingers began to dance along the keypad again.

_Whoever comes across this data later better appreciate all the work I'm having to do to correct this issue. Alright...let's start where we left off. Three hours after Sora's disappearance from Destiny Islands. Just need to add a special tagline for clarity..._

* * *

~Three Days Earlier~

* * *

A/N: And that's the end of the chapter for now. I thought about combining this one with the next chapter, but ultimately decided not to because it's more fun for me this way. You guys can spend the time between this post and the next one pondering in confusion. Muhahaha! Feel free to share some of those thoughts in the comment box. Next chapter will be more normal. I promise. Also, please let me know if I wrote Sora's first person narrative alright. I attempted it before in the past, but at the time I didn't have a good feel for his character. After Kingdom Hearts 3, I feel like I understand his character a lot better, mainly because he reminded me of someone that's important to me. So, when I write for him now I just think of that person. It'll be a little bit before Sora makes his return, so input on how I'm writing him now is greatly appreciated. Thank you guys! All of your are awesome! God bless you all! Happy Valentine's Day too!


	5. Blinded By Light

A/N: For the sake of keeping things nice and easy, let's pretend that chapter 4 isn't part of the story for the time being. The events of that chapter will be expanded upon soon enough, but it's nothing to worry about for the time being. For now, let us return to our regularly scheduled programming.

Warnings: Can't think of anything I need to warn you about for this chapter.

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts is a property of Disney, Square Enix, and Tetsuya Nomura (among others). This is a Fanfiction made for entertainment purposes only.

Title song: N/A

* * *

_Blinded by Light_

* * *

"You're staying?"

It was a reasonable question for Ventus to ask. After all, Aqua was still unsure about the situation herself.

"Riku asked me to."

"You mentioned that," Terra replied, his expression unreadable. "You didn't say _why_ he asked you."

"That's because he didn't give me a concrete reason," Aqua told him, her gaze lowering to the wooden dock beneath their feet. The ocean hummed loudly around them, nearly drowning out the words she'd spoken.

"He just asked me to stay for a few days and I agreed."

Terra crossed his arms over his chest, looking a little perplexed.

Aqua let out a soft sigh. "It was a surprise to me too, Terra. I imagine he needs help explaining what happened to Sora's parents. He has his hands full trying to comfort Kairi right now and, aside from Donald and Goofy, the rest of us agreed to help send word to his friends in other worlds about..." She stopped, unable to speak for a second.

"Anyway, I would still be going with you two if Riku hadn't asked me to stick around."

"I see," Terra answered, seeming to understand. "It's just weird he asked you out of the blue like this, especially with Donald and Goofy staying behind as well."

"I guess he just felt there needed to be someone around who didn't really know Sora that well," Aqua supplied, though the explanation didn't feel all that adequate. "We were talking before we saw him and...I was the first person who noticed him disappearing."

Ventus had been quiet throughout this exchange, but at the mention of Sora disappearing he dipped his head downward, a muffled sound of anguish escaping him. Aqua's expression softened upon seeing this. Terra also stared down at him, concern clear in his eyes.

"Aqua...why do you have to say it so...matter of factly?"

The blue-haired woman didn't respond.

"It's just...Sora kept my heart safe all those years and...he rescued you too."

There was a brief pause in the air.

"I know."

They didn't hear her. Her voice was drowned out by a fearsome gust of wind passing through that particular moment, and Terra was too focused on Ven to look her way, so he didn't see her lips move to form the words. If he had, perhaps he would have interjected to say something meaningful to help them feel even the slightest bit better about the situation.

Aqua wished he would have noticed, if only to prevent what Ventus said next.

"You're sad too, aren't you?"

"Yes, Ven. Very much so."

"Then why say it like that?" he asked, clenching his fists. "Why did you say it so robotically just now? You were crying before. I saw you."

Again, Aqua didn't answer. She merely stared back at him.

Terra sent a sharp glare to the boy. "Ven, that's enough..."

"This is hurting you, Aqua," Ventus continued, ignoring Terra's words. "It's hurting you really badly. I can feel it. I'm sure Terra can feel it too. We're...we're family, Aqua. So...why?"

"Why what?"

"Why won't you share your feelings with us?"

"I..."

"Can't you just be honest for once?"

The question hung in the air. Like keys on a chain it dangled between them, waiting for Aqua to speak, to clarify, to give an explanation or excuse.

She made the decision to let the silence speak for itself.

Eventually, Ventus' gaze on her softened. Maybe he saw the reason in her face as she stared wordlessly back at him, though Aqua couldn't be sure.

"I'm sorry. That wasn't fair."

"It's alright."

Ventus cringed a bit at her indifferent tone. "I'm just really worried about you, Aqua. Are you sure you can handle this right now...with the nightmares and all?"

"Yes, Ven. I'm sure."

Terra glanced at Aqua to try and read her expression, but couldn't get a feel for what was going on in her mind. It unnerved him to think he didn't quite know her as well as he used to.

But then...what did he expect? Ten years had come and gone. No one stays the same forever.

Aqua's eyes remained on Ventus, her heart aching in ways she couldn't begin to share with him through words. So instead she extended her arms and slowly walked forward. Once close enough, she gently wrapped her arms around his shoulders. He lifted his hands slightly, as if to return the embrace, but ultimately left his arms dangling by his sides.

Her eyes slipped closed while she held him there, musing silently that this was the only way she could share her hurt with him yet there he stood, unable to accept those feelings. Venus expressed himself best through the words he spoke. She expressed herself best through the actions she took.

A key component of communication is the ability to listen.

And just as there's more than one way to speak, there are different ways to listen.

Aqau knew those ways better than most, even after a decade alone.

Solitude has its benefits, believe it or not.

However, Ventus wasn't like her. Aqua knew he needed people. He needed to see faces and hear words. The solitude he experienced in sleep was far different from hers and Terra's. Even in sleep, he hadn't really been alone.

Sora gave his heart refuge, which allowed Ventus to see his experiences. His dreams were full of adventures, of a life outside of the cards of despair dealt to them.

He wanted to understand her. Aqua knew he did. But right now...she couldn't communicate in the ways he needed in order to gain that understanding.

She just hoped that at the very least, Ventus could feel how important he was to her and how badly she wanted to let him in.

"_I'm sorry I keep breaking my promise to you."_

Out loud, she whispered, "Please don't worry about me, Ven. I'm strong. Trust me. Okay?"

He nodded.

Comforted a little by that, Aqua took a step back from him. Terra placed a hand on his shoulder.

"It'll be fine," he said, smiling down at the boy. He turned to Aqua. "You sure you don't want us to stay with you?"

"Yeah," she answered, smiling weakly at him. "I think it's for the best. I don't know how Riku would feel about it, and you two have a job to do."

Terra moved away from Ven to wrap his arms around Aqua. She returned the hug after half a second of hesitance.

"We'll be back soon."

"I'll be waiting."

Terra let go of her slowly, his hands sliding down her arms until his hands were in hers.

"Promise?"

"I promise."

His hands slipped from hers, and as he turned to walk toward the edge of the dock with Ventus by his side, Aqua couldn't shake the feeling she wouldn't see him again for a very long time.

The two of them activated their keyblade armor, ascending to the nearly black sky on their vehicles without her. She lifted her arms and waved them off, shouting out her goodbye as loudly as she could.

They departed in a flash of light, disappearing in a manner reminiscent of how they left the Land of Departure all those years ago...

The last day she saw her master alive.

He was dead now, slain by the man she used to be in love with.

Likewise...Sora was gone too.

How much grief could she bear in a lifetime?

It was in those moments of contemplation that she realized how the sky above and the ocean below had become mirrors of each other.

Once again she stood alone in utter darkness.

A torrent of horrible memories flashed before her eyes while she waited for Riku to join her so the two of them could row to the main island. Donald and Goofy had already gone ahead with Kairi after Riku asked for a little time to himself. Kairi hadn't wanted to separate herself from him, but relented after he uttered a nearly silent plea for her to let him go.

Aqua was nearby at the time, waiting for Terra and Ventus who were exchanging a few quick words with Mickey when Riku turned to her, asking if she would mind staying on the islands for a few days.

She didn't hesitate to accept the offer.

Of course, she didn't anticipate having to wait for him in the darkness_...again._

"Breathe," Aqua muttered to herself, forcing a slow exhale. "You're not in the realm of darkness anymore. It's okay." After another inhale she repeated the words "It's okay" to herself a few more times.

Eventually the words shifted to "I'm okay."

An hour passed like that before Riku finally joined her on the docks. His approach startled her, but he didn't offer any words of apology, choosing instead to step down into the rowboat a short distance below the dock. Once standing in the boat he silently extended his hand to her, his eyes hidden from view thanks to his bangs.

For a few seconds Aqua could only stare blankly at his hand.

_Aqua._

She gritted her teeth.

"Aqua," Riku whispered again, a flash of impatience flaring in his eyes. "Let's go."

With a nod she quickly took his hand and stepped into the boat. Once they were both seated, Riku grabbed for the oars and began rowing. Aqua offered to help but he quickly shook his head, saying he could handle it fine alone.

They remained silent for a while, which left Aqua to gaze thoughtfully at the sky once more.

"Thanks for waiting on me."

Aqua jumped a little. "Sure."

"I know it was a weird request," he continued. "My asking you to stay that is."

"Yeah," she agreed. "Terra and Ven were really confused when I told them."

Riku nodded once, distracted not only by his thoughts but the task of rowing. "I...I just don't buy it. And you don't either. That's why I asked."

Aqua blinked once, confused by the wording of his statement.

"I don't believe Sora's dead," he answered, reading the unspoken question in the air. "It's just a gut feeling I got. And..."

"Hmm?"

"When I looked at you earlier I saw that you felt the same way I did."

"How could you tell?" she asked, not bothering to deny his claim.

He groaned in response, the muscles in his arms shaking a bit as he strained against a particularly strong wave. "I don't...really know. I just looked at you and remembered the drawing you made in the sand. I felt like you should stay and see more of our world."

Aqua stared down at her hands folded neatly against her lap.

"Why?"

Riku stayed silent for a little while, his focus on the waves. Once more she attempted to ask if she could help since it was clear he was beginning to struggle, but instead of acknowledging the offer he muttered, "Because Mickey was right."

"Huh?"

"The reason I want you to see the world that shaped Kairi, Sora, and I," he clarified. "When we went searching for you in the realm of darkness, Mickey said you were like Sora and I see now that he was right."

Aqua tilted her head to the side a bit, more confused than ever. She couldn't begin to guess what qualities she and Sora shared. He was cheerful and sociable almost 24/7 while she was quiet and reserved. He believed anything was possible and never gave up hope.

She stopped believing in a happy ending until he reached for her hand.

"I don't...understand."

Riku smiled and even chuckled a little. "Guess that's another thing you two have in common."

Aqua's responding glare chilled him to the bone. "Excuse me?"

"Um...what I mean to say is that..." he trailed off for a long moment, recalling when he'd been too weak to walk properly after defeating Xemnas. But Sora, who had just gone through the same draining battle, supported his dead weight as they walked to the shore where Kairi's letter waited to call them home.

He wouldn't have made it that far without Sora.

Riku often felt the same sort of awe when he looked at Aqua. She braved the realm of darkness alone for ten years before Mickey found her the first time, then sacrificed her chance of escape to protect him, a boy who had willingly let himself be controlled by a piece of the very man who set the path for the misery she endured. And then, immediately after they finally rescued her, she sought Ventus out without bothering to take a break, woke him up, then proceeded to participate in their final fight with Xehanort only a day later.

"You're a strong person, Aqua," he said finally. "Just like Sora is."

Aqua was touched by the compliment, but she couldn't say she agreed with it fully. These days she didn't feel so strong at all. She felt like she was getting weaker and weaker by the day.

"Thank you," she whispered, noticing that they were approaching the shore of the main island. "Now, will you let me help you row to shore?"

Riku nodded. "Please."

* * *

When the duo finally arrived at Kairi's house, they found Donald and Goofy sitting outside on the stoop, their forlorn faces downcast.

Goofy noticed them first. Though he tried to smile at them, it didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Kairi's inside," he told them once they were close enough. "Her parents were really happy to see her."

"They were crying," Donald mumbled.

"So, we figured it was best to let Kairi have time alone with her parents," Goofy finished, patting Donald's back gently. "The only problem is that we didn't really have a place to go after that."

Riku gazed up at the two-story mansion in front of them. After a moment of silence he smiled fondly at Donald and Goofy.

"Don't worry. We can all stay at my place. It's just a little ways down the road."

"Are you sure, Riku?" Aqua asked, watching as he turned away from the immaculate house.

"Yeah, my mom won't mind."

"What about your dad?"

Riku's footsteps halted. "I...don't have one. Not anymore."

The news sent a jolt through the blue-haired wielder. "Oh. I'm...sorry."

"Don't be," he replied, sighing heavily. "He's been gone for a long time now. A really long time." After a few more seconds he motioned with his hand for the trio behind him to follow. Donald and Goofy didn't waste any time catching up with the teen, but Aqua lingered, her eyes drifting back to the house. It was an ornate white building with a modestly sized front yard full of varying flowers. Two large palm trees stood to the right of the house and another tree stood off to the left. Though large, the house itself wasn't especially fancy. It was a simple looking house with a turquoise tile roof. It was this aspect Aqua found the most interesting about the structure. The way the tiles folded over the roof reminded her of the ocean.

It was a fitting place for Kairi to live.

She stared at the manicured lawn below her feet for a few seconds, a contemplative frown on her face.

"_Did he visit her house often?"_

"Aqua!"

Startled out of her thoughts, Aqau looked over her shoulder to see Riku waving for her to hurry up. She glanced back at the house one last time, noting a single light shining out from a window on the second floor, then darted down the street to catch up with the others.

"_I hope Kairi will be alright."_

* * *

Donald and Goofy were oddly quiet during their trek down the street. Riku didn't make an effort establish a conversation either, which left Aqua feeling like she had to fill the silence.

"It's a nice neighborhood," she said, appreciating the streetlights marking their path. "Very quaint. Did Sora live here?"

"Sora's house is in the next neighborhood over," Riku answered briskly, his expression reflecting a bit of irritation, though Aqua suspected it had nothing to do with her.

This suspicion was confirmed when they reached his front door. He started to reach into his pocket for the key only for the wooden door to open. The inside of the house was so bright compared to the dim lighting outside that Aqua had to cover her eyes.

"I thought I made myself clear last time. You have a curfew!"

Suddenly a fist rammed against Riku's chest, sending him careening backward into the dirt.

"Riku!" Goofy shouted, rushing to his side with Donald close behind. "Are you okay?"

"What do you think, Goofy?" Donald quacked irritably, noting the stars dancing around Riku's head.

"I'm fine...just...winded."

Aqua remained still, not sure how to process the situation as an older woman with pink hair swept to the side of her head brushed past without so much as a word. She wore a khaki blazer over a pale-blue sleeveless blouse with dark wash Capri pants, a couple silver bracelets on either arm, and beige fingerless gloves. As she stomped down the yard, Aqua noticed she wasn't wearing shoes.

Donald and Goofy stood protectively in front of Riku. "Stop right there!"

"No guys," Riku mumbled quickly, hurriedly pushing the two of them aside. "It's okay. That's...my mom."

"She's your mom!"

The pink-haired woman bent forward, her right hand reaching for the teen's left ear.

"Nine o'clock," she proclaimed, all business. "And what time do _you_ think it is?"

"Um...Nine o'one?"

The woman replied by dragging him to his feet by the ear. When she turned to pull him toward the house, Aqua finally got a good look at the woman's face. She was a stern looking woman in her late thirties with fierce, pale blue-green eyes.

"Ouch! Mom! Stop! I'm sorry!"

She chuckled, a smirk lifting the corners of her lips. "Oh, you'll be more than sorry when I'm through with you, kid." For a few seconds she stopped to stare at Aqua, then glanced over her shoulder at Goofy and Donald.

"The three of you have a place to stay?"

Donald and Goofy shook their heads. Aqua smiled apologetically.

With a huff she gently pushed Riku inside. He let out a yelp as he tripped over the threshold.

"Come on in then. I'll prepare the guest rooms once I'm through yelling my son's ear off..."

A low grumbling from Donald and Goofy's stomachs suddenly shook through the otherwise still air.

The woman narrowed her gaze on the two of them, looking _very_ displeased.

"Sorry," Donald mumbled.

"I guess I'll make some snacks too." the woman answered with a sigh. She tilted her head in a motion ordering them to hurry inside.

The duck entered first, gasping in delight at the crystal chandelier hanging high over their heads. Goofy was close behind, his gaze also traveling to the light fixture. They walked around Riku, who lay sprawled against the rug cutting through the room.

"Thank you for the hospitality Mrs...uh Ms...um?" Aqua wasn't sure how to address her.

With another soft sound akin to laughter, the woman stepped over the boy on the floor without so much as a glance.

"Just call me Lightning."

* * *

A/N: Now that the chapter is over, the song this chapter is titled after is Blinded by Light from Final Fantasy XIII. This is Lightning's battle theme, though for this chapter the softer version of this track is a better pick to listen to. It's simply titled Lightning's theme. While editing through this chapter, I listened to a mix of Face My Fears and BTS' Fake Love on repeat. If you've never heard of BTS before, you will get acquainted with their music through this story. Just wait for it. The particular Face My Fears/Fake Love mix I listened to is on the YouTube channel Ryu Mixing and is titled Fake My Fears. It's awesome. Seriously, go listen to it.

On another note, Lightning is in this story guys. It's bothered me for a while now that the parents of these crazy kids aren't involved in some form or fashion in the series, especially when it's been established that Sora's mom has been waiting for this child to come to dinner for years now. While on that line of thought, I wondered which Final Fantasy characters could fit the bill. For Riku, picking was easy. Lightning and Riku have similar personalities in some ways and having her as his mother just seemed like a perfect match. So, look forward to seeing more of Lightning next chapter. Also, it's looking like it's going to take a little longer to get to some actual Aqua/Sora moment than I originally anticipated. Of course, I didn't exactly anticipate for this story to be more than one chapter originally so...let's just see where things go. I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! See you in the next one!


	6. Never Coming Back

A/N: I'm happy to see that you guys liked the choice of Lightning as Riku's mom. She'll be in the bulk of this chapter, so definitely let me know if I characterize her decently. While I'm familiar with the storyline, I've never actually played Final Fantasy XIII, so if something is a little off or if she's a bit too abrasive in some ways, don't hesitate to tell me. The beauty of Fanfiction is that I can always go back and fix things later, whether it be grammar errors, character inconsistencies, or whatever else. Granted I can get lazy about such things sometimes, but we're not going to discuss that. Anyway, I hope you guys will enjoy this chapter. Things are progressing more slowly than I originally anticipated, but I'm having a lot of fun with this. I hope you guys are too.

Warning: This chapter contains allusions to a sensitive subject matter within an extremely tiny section of the chapter. I would say what it is, but doing so ruins the surprise and the general, "OH MY GOSH! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE YOU EVIL, MALEVOLENT..."  
I'm getting ahead of myself. My evil side has returned. Let's leave it at that. In general, while this chapter contains some humor it is on the heavier side of things. That angst tag is there for a reason.

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts is the property of Disney, Square Enix, and Tetsuya Nomura. This is a Fanfiction made for entertainment purposes only. Much as I would like a paycheck for work like this, unless Square Enix just wants to randomly hire me as a writer for Kingdom Hearts, that ain't happening. A girl can dream though. Haha!

Title song: Never Coming Back from the OST of the anime Violet Evergarden. (If you've never seen Violet Evergarden, you should watch it. Seriously. It's so beautiful!)

* * *

_Never Coming Back_

* * *

"And that's the whole story."

Lightning stared thoughtfully at the cup of oolong tea in front of her with glassy eyes. "Sora..."

"Yeah, it hit me pretty hard too," Riku answered quickly, glancing at Donald and Goofy. They were at the other end of the small table, happily munching on the variety of snacks his mother prepared for them. It was a temporary happiness that would soon fade, but Riku figured it was best to prolong it. Those two and misery really didn't go together.

Sora and death didn't go together either, yet here they were. Whether he actually believed the news or not was irrelevant.

Aqua sat across from the white-haired teen with her hands folded against the wooden tabletop. Similar to Lightning, her gaze remained fixed on a steaming cup of oolong tea.

"I can hardly believe it," Lightning said after a moment, her attention shifting carefully to her son. "He was...such an energetic boy. Full of life..." She started to reach for his hand. "Riku..."

"Don't worry, Mom. I'm okay," he cut in, moving his hand away before she could touch him. "Anyway, _that's_ why I was late getting home."

Lightning nodded, maintaining a calm demeanor though sorrow lingered in her eyes. "You said Kairi finally came home too. She's the one who told you the news, right?"

"Yes."

"Was she...with him when he..."

"I think so," Riku interrupted again, clearly trying to get through this conversation as quickly and as possible. "I'm not too certain on the details."

"None of us are," Aqua added before bringing the mug of tea to her lips.

"After the fight with Xehanort, Sora went off on his own to find her."

Aqua nearly choked on the drink upon hearing Riku's words.

"Yes, I remember you telling me that..."

Swallowing the scalding liquid she'd gulped a little too quickly, Aqua hoarsely blurted, "Wait a moment."

She waited patiently for them to give her their full attention. Neither looked particularly pleased for the disruption.

"Riku," she began, her tone stern. "You told your mother about the other worlds and Xehanort?"

Donald, somehow hearing this over Goofy's loud chewing bounced out of his chair and onto the table, screeching, "WHAT!? YOU DID WHAT!?"

"It's true," Riku muttered, covering his eyes with his hand while Lightning arched a brow at the duck waddling across her table with dirty webbed feet.

"Uh, Donald..." Goofy tugged the back of his shirt in an attempt to get the enraged bird back into his seat.

"What about the world order!" Donald wailed, his arms flapping wildly. "Riku should know better than to go blabbing!"

"Sit down, Donald," Riku moaned, noting how his mother's scowl had become increasingly dangerous. "Now."

"I will not sit down! There are rules prohibiting..."

Lightning slammed her hands against the table, shaking it so badly Donald nearly fell face forward into a bowl of homemade hummus.

"You will not come into _my_ house and stand on _my_ furniture," she whispered through gritted teeth, her voice sending shivers down Donald's tail feathers. "Unless you want me to make a fine roast out of you, sit down and keep quiet. Have I made myself clear? Hmm?"

The duck grumbled audibly but quickly did as he was told. Goofy merely shook his head, looking about half as embarrassed as Riku did.

"You know Donald, it's kinda silly to get angry when Sora told his parents about our adventures too."

Aqua perked up a bit at this. "He did?"

"Yeah," Riku answered, sighing heavily while Lightning took a slow sip of tea to calm herself down. "Sora's a terrible liar and Mom..." He glanced at her and groaned, "She forced the truth out of me."

Aqua stared at Riku's mother in awe. "And you believed him?"

Lightning shrugged, setting her cup down once she'd taken a satisfying drink. "Not at first, but I know my son." She closed her eyes for a second, smirking. "He wouldn't dare tell a story _that _convoluted and stupid, then expect me to buy it. Not unless it was actually the truth."

"Still," Aqua paused, noting how visibly distressed Riku was becoming. "It's highly dangerous information. We're not supposed to share it under any circumstances."

The older woman glanced briefly at her agitated son, then back at Aqua. "Consider this a special case. My child doesn't get to disappear for almost two years and not tell me exactly where he's been. Besides, the news about other worlds wasn't any surprise to me. I'm not originally from Destiny Islands myself."

Riku tensed at the words. The whole room seemed to freeze as the information settled over them all.

"What?" The white-haired teen rose from the table, his green eyes alight with fury and hurt. "You weren't born here!?"

"Nope."

"Then...why have you never told me this? Was Dad..."

"It wasn't necessary," she explained in a rush, resting her cheek against the palm of her left hand while tapping the edge of the porcelain mug with her fingernails. "After all, as your friend Aqua just said, it's highly dangerous information."

"But..."

"Knowledge of other worlds has already taken something from us," Lightning interrupted again, her voice quiet yet authoritative. "And now...it's taken something else."

Awkward silence held the room, but after two minutes without so much as a peep from anyone, Aqua just couldn't take it anymore.

"Um...you have a lovely home, Lightning. Just...beautiful."

Lightning didn't answer. She and Riku were having a silent contest of wills with each other. A whole series of probing questions lingered in the teen's darkening gaze and Lightning returned his questions with a somber expression in which he'd find no answers. Even if he asked directly, it was clear the woman wasn't going to share anything.

Aqua stared at the liquid in her cup, her thoughts slowly drifting to the questions Ventus asked her.

_Why won't you share your feelings with us? Can't you just be honest for once?_

"If you're angry about me keeping things from you," Lightning began, "Then you should know you have no right to be. There are things you kept secret to protect me, right? Likewise, I kept this secret to protect you, not that it did any good. Danger found you anyway." The older woman chuckled darkly, her eyes closing for a moment. "Perhaps it was a mistake to hide the information away. Ignorance is what's truly dangerous. Wouldn't you all agree?"

Goofy scratched the side of his head. "Gawrsh, ma'am. I don't know."

"Hmph, my point exactly."

"Hey!" Donald screeched, glaring at Lightning again. "That isn't very nice!"

"Whoever said I was nice?"

Aqua watched Riku slowly clench his fists atop the table. He was clearly reaching a boiling point after everything that had happened, and not just from the day either. His journey to the person he was now hadn't been simple by any means. Aqua wasn't caught up on all the details since she hadn't bothered to finish going through all the data Jiminy programmed into her Gummiphone, but she knew he'd struggled against the darkness inside of him and even lost himself to it for a while. Regardless of the passage of time, some of that darkness would always be part of him. In the same way, her time in the realm of darkness would always be part of her.

Of course, the blue-haired keyblade master wasn't entirely focused on Riku's emotional struggle or on anything else in the room.

Instead she was pondering the statement Lightning made.

_Ignorance is what's truly dangerous._

And then she thought about Ventus' questions again.

_Why won't you share your feelings with us? Can't you just be honest for once?_

Maybe that was the reason why Terra and Ventus wanted to make that promise: to be honest with one another. Honesty between them meant they couldn't be ignorant of each other's feelings. Even so...

Not everything needs to be shared. Some secrets should be kept.

Her torment was hers alone to bear. She couldn't share that. Not with them. Not after everything they'd all been through.

Eventually, after a few minutes of Donald yelling and Lightning threatening to roast him again, Riku spoke, breaking into the fray with words so frigid Aqua felt it in her bones.

"I don't need you to protect me anymore, Mom."

Silence followed the declaration for a minute and in that minute, Riku exchanged another long stare with his mother. This one was different though. Aqua could see he was trying to hide his pain. He was trying to be strong despite not having any strength left.

The corners of her lips twitched.

"_It's a terrible feeling, isn't it, Riku?"_

Lightning responded with a heavy sigh of exhaustion, the kind only parents would understand.

"Oh, please. What? You think you're too old or something?" The pink-haired woman laughed, but the sound was hollow. "You think because you've been away from home fighting monsters and saving worlds means I'm not supposed to do my job?"

Goofy started to stand, looking highly uncomfortable as he glanced at Donald and Aqua. "Maybe we should let them have the room..."

"Sit down," Lightning ordered, only waiting a second for Goofy to comply before facing Riku again. "No matter how old you get or how capable you think you are, you will always be my son, and you will always need me to be here for you. Nothing changes that. You hear me? Nothing."

Riku didn't answer. No one else dared to say anything either.

The older woman inhaled slowly, her voice softening. "And while you're sitting there angry at me for keeping secrets, I'm just glad my son came home at all." A shuddering breath escaped her as she lowered her gaze, hiding her eyes from the other people in the room. "Sora's parents won't experience the same blessing."

Aqua visibly flinched at Lightning's words.

Donald and Goofy seemed to physically deflate as well, which caused Riku to get even angrier.

"Please don't say that," he pleaded, trying his best to remain respectful of his mother since he'd clearly crossed a line before. "Sora disappeared. Kairi may say he's dead but...but..." Riku's words tapered off, his head bowing toward the table. Lightning lifted her gaze, a single droplet of water sliding down her cheek as she scooted her chair closer to Riku's. Gracefully and tenderly, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders without a word. Riku responded in kind, leaning against her shoulder.

Feeling his tears dripping against the front of her shirt, Lightning finally addressed their visitors.

"I need some time alone with my son now. The guest suites are on the hall to the right of the living room. Make yourselves comfortable."

Donald got up from the table first, followed by Goofy. The duck started to say something but shook his head and waddled out of the kitchen. Goofy briefly placed his hand on Riku's shoulder as a way to say that he had his and Donald's support, then left.

Aqua was the last to rise from her seat, her heart heavy.

Kairi's confirmation, evidence or no evidence, left little room for hope in any of their hearts. She was with Sora at the end, so she, more than anyone else, would feel his death.

Perhaps she and Riku were in denial, searching for hope where it didn't exist.

"_Riku...I'm so sorry."_

Aqua departed quickly after that, though not quickly enough.

She caught the sound of Riku's crying. It was practically inaudible, but she heard it and would continue to hear it in her mind throughout the night.

"_Kairi has to be wrong,_" she thought, escaping into one of the specified guests rooms. It was a simple room with pale blue walls and cream crown-molding along the ceiling and floor, which was covered in beige carpet. It was an odd transition between the hardwood flooring of the hall, but as Aqua hobbled out of her shoes, she found herself appreciating the soft fibers beneath her feet.

Once out of the silver footwear, Aqua gently closed the door behind her and took in more of the room. There was a full-size bed in the corner, which was draped in a beautiful cream duvet with intricate flower patterns covering its surface. Walking over to it, she gripped the side of one of the pillows to test its fluffiness while noting the same intricate flower pattern.

Her gaze shifted to the curtains adorning the bay window a little ways from the bed once she was done examining the pillows. Upon further inspection she realized the window was a door leading to a small patio. She was unable to completely see it due to the dark, but she could faintly make out the silhouette of a two chairs and a table.

The other furniture in the bedroom was a cream color as well, with sea-themed knick-knacks of varying pale colors. Aqua noticed this while searching one of the dressers for something to sleep in.

After a minute or two she settled on a periwinkle-blue sweatshirt and grey sweatpants for the night.

These simple activities were a distraction from the multitude of words repeating endlessly in her mind.

_Dead._

_Why won't you share your feelings with us?_

_He's dead._

_Ignorance is what's truly dangerous._

_Sora._

_Gone._

_Never coming back._

_He should be here...with me._

_Terra._

_Darkness._

_Can't you just be honest for once?_

_Pain._

_Sora._

_Never coming back..._

_Because he's dead._

_Dead._

_Dead._

"Shut up," Aqua muttered breathlessly while pulling the sweatshirt over her head. Her heart was racing now. "Just shut up already."

There was a bathroom connected to the bedroom and after she finished changing she padded inside, closed the door, and turned the sink on.

The running water would drown out the thoughts...would drown out her cries.

"_Kairi has to be wrong. She's the person who loves him the most. I know that...but...she has to be wrong..."_

Aqua sunk to the floor, her knees rising to meet her chest. She rested her head against them, forcing herself to focus on breathing.

It took a substantial amount of effort to remember how to do it properly and she panicked a little when she realized how tired she was...and not just in the physical sense.

Mentally and emotionally, Aqua was spiraling to a breaking point.

_Aqua._

"Sora..."

Saying his name soothed her a little, then brought on another wave of agony.

She saw Riku in her mind's eye, crying in his mother's embrace. An instant later she saw Kairi wrapping her arms around herself and screaming.

And then out of nowhere she felt the sensation of Terra's lips on hers, robbing her of the oxygen she so desperately needed to escape the memory of constant suffocation.

"_Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale."_

She couldn't breathe anymore.

It was too much. All of it was just too much.

Aqua rose unsteadily, her body swaying as she moved to turn off the faucet.

* * *

_At the Mayor's house on Destiny Islands, a broken girl opened the door to her balcony and silently stepped out into the night. She walked leisurely toward the white railing ahead, her sapphire gaze taking in the peaceful view of the paradise around her._

_But deep in her heart, she knew it was nothing but an empty, cold world. _

_The wind picked up, playing with the strands of her short red hair._

_Almost unconsciously the girl climbed atop the thin railing, balancing precariously on it as the wind continued to beat against her body._

_Extending her arms, she smiled, and then..._

* * *

"Aqua! Aqua!"

The young woman felt large hands against her shoulders, gently shaking her. Disoriented she started to open her eyes only for her head to start pounding.

"Gah..."

"Try not to move too much," Lightning's voice commanded. "Riku, go get the first aid kit. Daffy, grab an ice pack from the freezer."

"It's Donald!"

"Yeah, and I have a pot you'll fit into perfectly."

Footsteps hurried away from her, accompanied by intense grumbling. Aqua tried to open her eyes again but the pain returned, so she opted to just keep them shut for now.

"Goofy, on the count of three, we lift her up."

_"Lift me up? Oh no..."_

Aqua tried speaking, but she was drowned out by Lightning's counting.

"One. Two. Three."

Suddenly Aqua felt weightless, although her legs were being held up a little higher than necessary, which meant her body was being carried at an odd angle.

"Goofy, hold your half of her up a bit higher."

With a grunt of effort, Goofy did as he was told. Aqua felt the upper half of her body lift a bit, which almost leveled her out.

"Okay," Lightning breathed, also adjusting her hold on Aqua's legs. "Carefully back out of the room and make sure you don't drop her."

"You got it ma'am."

Aqua fought against a groan of embarrassment. "_This is humiliating."_

After about a minute, Lightning and Goofy gently lowered her to a soft surface. Aqua assumed it was the bed.

"W-what...happened?"

"You passed out and hit your head," Lightning stated simply as footsteps approached. "Thank you." She paused and Aqua heard a click. "Try opening your eyes for me."

"A-alright."

"Take your time. It's no rush."

Aqua struggled for a couple seconds as another sharp pain shot through her skull, but managed the task. Lightning's face was a little blurry and the bright lights of the room made her head pound even more.

The older woman brought a cold compress to the side of her head after shining a light in her eyes. "You're bleeding a little, but it doesn't look like you have a concussion. I'll clean the wound then dab a potion on it." She made a motion with her hand and Riku was by her side in an instant.

"Hand me the peroxide."

Riku did so, then spoke to Aqua. "You really scared us there for a minute, but it looks like you'll be fine."

"Yeah, I guess," the blue-haired warrior muttered, wondering how Ven and Terra would have reacted to this spectacle. "I was...washing my face and started to feel dizzy. The last thing I remember was reaching for the faucet."

"It's a good thing you didn't reach it," Lightning replied, removing the cold cloth to press a different one to her head. Aqua flinched a bit, but otherwise didn't react to the stinging sensation.

"The running water let us know something was wrong."

Donald waddled forward, concern showing easily on his face. "Are you gonna be okay?"

Aqua smiled though doing so hurt a bit. "Yes. I'll be fine, Donald. Don't worry."

Lightning continued to clean the blood from the front of Aqua's scalp. "It definitely could have been worse." She paused, motioning to Riku again. "Potion."

"Here." The pink-haired woman took it gently from his hand and opened the bottle. Setting it on the nightstand table, she withdrew a few bandages. "I want you to keep this secure around your head for the night. You'll be good as new in the morning."

Aqua glanced at Riku. "Is your mom a doctor?"

Lightning smirked at the question. "No. Not really. I just have a lot of experience patching up injuries like this. Sora would always come in here with skinned knees or a bump on the head thanks to _somebody _playing too roughly."

"We did rough-house a lot didn't we?" Riku chuckled, crossing his arms in front of his chest. Donald and Goofy joined in on the giggles while mentioning different stories Sora told them about those days spent playing on the islands.

Aqua pictured Sora as a child, which was fairly easy considering when she'd first met him. He had an easy smile that persisted throughout the years despite all the scary things he must have gone through throughout his journey as a self-taught keyblade wielder.

She would never believe that smile was gone forever.

Even so...the words of doubt repeated.

_Never coming back._

A dial tone sounded, stopping all conversation. Riku reached into his pocket upon realizing the ringing was coming from his Gummiphone. Without a word he answered it, holding the device up to his ear when a face didn't appear on his screen.

"Kairi?"

* * *

A/N: And that ends that chapter. I'm looking forward to reading your responses to this one, although this is nothing compared to what I have in store for you next. Muhahahahahahahahahahaha! Thank you for reading! God bless you all! See you in the next one!


	7. Don't Leave Me

A/N: Hey everyone! I hope you guys are having a wonderful day so far! Since the last chapter left some plot threads just hanging there and I was unable to post this yesterday like I planned, I'm not going to talk much this time around. We're going to just jump in. (Many thanks for your lovely reviews guys. You're all wonderful! Thank you for the input and for asking questions too. I have so much fun seeing your thoughts on what I'm writing.)

Warnings: This chapter is another one of those weird, seemingly convoluted pieces. Just roll with it guys. All will be made clear...eventually. Muhaha!

Disclaimer: You know the drill. I don't own Kingdom Hearts. It is a product of Disney, Square Enix, and Tetsuya Nomura.

Title song: This is our first K-Pop entry in terms of song titles. Don't Leave Me by BTS.

* * *

_Don't Leave Me_

* * *

**Encryption detected in available files.**

"Encryption!?" The gloved hands ceased their movement across the keypad. "First scrambling and now encryption?"

**Decode existing data?**

"This branch is giving me way more trouble than it should." After a couple of swift keystrokes, the hands withdrew from the keys again. The computer began an intensive scan, cycling through words hidden beneath codes and altered images, though the mysterious figure was paying more attention to the array of hardback books scattered about the sterile white desk. Each one lay open, the images within piecing together various timelines and the branches extending from each one.

_To go through this much trouble to alter the data means someone's hiding something incredibly dangerous in this branch. The entries were just out of order at first, but now entire sections of data are either missing or encrypted. Piecing this together isn't impossible, but I'm going to have my work cut out for me finding the common link between the errors._

**Data decoded. **

"Good. Run a search through the back-up system. Recover missing files."

**Select keyword for search?**

"Kairi."

* * *

"Kairi?"

Aqua blinked wearily, taking note of the subtle changes in Riku's expression as he waited for someone to speak on the other line.

"Are you there?" he asked.

Though Aqua couldn't catch the words, she heard a muffled voice come through the phone. She tried to hear more, but Lightning started speaking to her then, diverting her attention.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"I said to keep your head elevated," the pink-haired woman repeated, gently fluffing the pillows behind her head. "The potion soaked bandages should fix you up fine. If your head is still hurting tomorrow, I'll drive you to the doctor myself."

"That really isn't..."

Lightning arched a brow, daring her to argue.

"Um...thank you." Aqua tried to look around the older woman, her eyes straining to get a clear view of Riku as he continued talking on the phone, but between the ache in her head and Donald and Goofy asking for her to relax, she couldn't catch even the smallest bit of the conversation he was having.

And she was so tired. Try as she might to stay awake, Aqua simply couldn't manage it. She fell asleep quickly, the potion bandages doing their work to heal the wound she'd sustained.

Nearby, Riku let out a sigh.

"Kairi, are you sure you want to tell them tomorrow?"

"It's...better that way," she answered from her end. "Sora's parents should know what happened to him as soon as possible. It's...it's the least I can do for them."

"Kairi..."

"I'm okay, Riku," she told him, her breathing a little shaky. "I'm okay. I can be strong. I have to be. I promised Sora I would be strong from now on, no matter what happens."

Leaving the guest room where his mother, Donald, and Goofy were still tending to Aqua, Riku padded into the living room. "This doesn't feel right, Kairi."

"What doesn't? The fact that Sora's gone?"

"Yeah," Riku replied. "But not just that. It doesn't feel right to tell his parents yet."

"We already told our parents, didn't we?" Kairi asked. "And all our friends know too. It isn't right for his parents to find out about it last. We should have talked to them right away..."

"There's no way either of us could have handled that tonight," Riku interrupted, taking a seat on the leather couch. Releasing a sigh, he pressed a hand to his forehead.

"Are you alright?"

"Not really," he answered, closing his eyes. "How did your parents react to you coming home?"

Kairi paused for a moment. "I'm sure Donald and Goofy told you."

"Rather hear it from you."

"They cried. My mom especially, and you know she hardly ever cries."

"Yeah. Meanwhile Mayor Caelum cries at the sight of vegetables."

The two of them laughed weakly at the joke but soon fell silent.

"It doesn't feel right to laugh without him," Kairi breathed. "It hurts to even think about the past, especially when I thought...when I thought we would finally be together."

Riku opened his eyes slowly to see his reflection in the glass coffee table. The green in his irises were lacking their usual luster.

"What happened, Kairi? How did he die? I need to know. That's...the only way I can believe it's true."

Kairi remained silent for a long time.

"Please..."

"I can't," she cut in. "I can't talk about this. Not yet."

Riku's grip around the phone tightened, but he managed to keep his voice calm. "Okay. Fine."

"Riku..."

"Hmm?"

"I promise to tell you soon," Kairi whispered, her voice catching on the last word. "Until then...please just take my word for it, okay? Sora's gone."

Riku said nothing.

"We...need to tell his parents. Tomorrow."

* * *

**DATA RECOVERY PRCOESSING  
Recovery Status: 13%  
View recovered data?**

**...**

**Understood.  
Processing request.**

**Entry 7A-121 detected.  
Location: Destiny Islands  
Time: Midnight; 5 hours after the disappearance**

* * *

All was silent on the play island, save for the howling of the wind. Dark clouds rolled through the blackened sky, which was a sure sign of the storm approaching, but it would pass through, as all storms do.

As the palm trees shook with the wind, a new sound created a soft echo through the otherwise silent air.

It was the sound of a dark corridor opening. A lone figure dressed in a familiar black cloak emerged from the portal with the hood raised over his head. The steps he took across the sand were swift and purposeful. There was no time to delay, not when there was work to be done.

Once at the shoreline, the cloaked figure lowered himself to the sand and began to dig his gloved hands through it. He was searching for an object he'd seen halfway buried in the sand five hours prior.

There hadn't been an opportunity to grab it then. Too many people around.

So he opted to discreetly bury it deeper in the sand with his foot until he could return for it.

"_It's still here_." He rejoiced inwardly, his heart guiding his hands as he continued digging through the soft grains. "_I can feel it."_

Though it took several minutes, his fingers eventually brushed against a metal surface.

"_Bingo."_

The cloaked figure smiled, feeling around the object for the chain he knew was attached to it.

"_I owe you a debt, Sora..."_

With a grunt of triumph, he withdrew the item from the sand. Despite the lack of light, the silver crown pendant seemed to glow in his hand.

_"And with this, I'm going to pay it back."_

* * *

**Entry 7A-121- Complete**

* * *

The following morning, Aqua woke to the soft sound of rain tapping against the window. Though groggy and confused by her surroundings, she felt fine.

"Where...oh..."

The memories of the previous day returned, bringing sorrow along with it. However, Aqua made the decision not to dwell on those feelings upon noticing a note lying atop the nightstand table. With a hesitant hand she picked up the scrap of paper and began to read.

_Aqua,_

_Kairi and I agreed we would visit Sora's parents tomorrow to tell them the news, but Mom pulled a fast one on me. She took the liberty of calling them while I was still talking with Kairi. I wasn't convinced telling them was the best plan in the first place, but now...well, now they know, so our plan to visit them has been postponed. I just don't think it's a good idea to see them right now. They need time to grieve on their own._

_It's starting to sink in that Sora might really be gone...for good._

She re-read the sentence as words from the previous night repeated in her head.

_Never coming back._

_He's dead._

There were new thoughts too.

_Accept it. Sora is gone. Kairi said so. She would know best, wouldn't she?_

"Maybe. Maybe not."

Aqua wasn't sure why she said the words aloud.

After a few more seconds of hesitation, she continued reading the note.

_I'm glad you stuck around, Aqua. Right now we need someone whose strong and...like I told you last night, I think it's important for you to see our world. I want you to see the places and people who made Sora who he is...or...was. _

"He isn't gone, Riku," she muttered, her fingers shaking a little. "You don't believe that any more than I do."

She inhaled slowly as she read the remainder of the letter.

_Sorry. I'm a bit out of it. Can't sleep. It's actually past midnight now._

_I'd like to show you around the islands, and once things have settled down a bit, we can all visit Sora's parents together. In the meantime, try to get some rest. Mom said she would make pancakes. I'll save you some if you don't wake up in time for breakfast._

_See you in the morning._

_~Riku_

Aqua read the letter twice more then crumpled it into a ball.

_"Sora...I'm not going to give up hope. I can't...because you're the person who gave it back to me."_

Rising slowly, Aqua stretched her arms over her head and allowed the balled up note to fall into the wastebasket nearby. Once satisfied with the stretch she climbed out of bed and walked the few steps it took to reach the bay door. Outside the skies were overcast, but the rain had stopped.

Deciding to brave the elements, she turned the handle on the glass bay door and pushed forward.

Inhaling the fresh, crisp air, Aqua stepped gently over the threshold and onto the stone path leading to the nearby patio. For a few seconds she looked over the trail the stones created then drifted to the right, her feet pressing against the wet grass while the wind danced through her hair.

She closed her eyes and exhaled.

After ten years, she was truly breathing again.

"_I'm not going to mourn you anymore_," she thought wistfully, her spirit beginning to lift little by little. "_You're alive. I can feel it. I can still feel you deep in my heart."_

The wind picked up speed, ruffling through the fabric of the night clothes Aqua wore. For a second she felt like the wind was guiding her body toward the sky.

"_Kairi is wrong. I know she is."_

Her eyes opened to the sight of clouds gently parting. Soft, shimmering beams of light remained in the spaces left behind.

_Aqua._

The blue-haired master remained completely still.

There was a change in the inflection of her name.

Aqua would have missed it had she not been in a state of deep meditation.

She wasn't remembering his voice this time.

_Aqua._

He was saying her name in real time.

_Hmmm._

His voice hummed in a way almost playful as he said her name again. It was like he was testing it on his lips, trying to decide whether he liked the sound of it or not.

Aqua was tempted to look around to see if by some miracle he was standing nearby, having played the worst kind of prank, but something invisible told her to just concentrate on his voice and listen.

_Aqua. That's her name. It's...beautiful. She...she was beautiful too._

A little overwhelmed by his words, Aqua switched directions and walked the stone path to the small patio. She started to reach for the chair, needing to sit down when she noted something sparkling in her peripheral vision.

_I just wish I could thank her. It's thanks to her I know my own name._

Aqua's heart pounded in a relentless rhythm, her whole body shaking as her fingertips brushed against the metal of a pendant she recognized all too easily.

She could hardly make sense of it.

"Sora...?"

_Huh? That voice..._

Without a doubt. He was alive.

But before Aqua even had the chance to sit with the realization, a shrill screech tore through the air, disrupting all her thoughts.

"What is that?" she questioned aloud, her gaze flying about the area while the sharp sound increased in volume.

Though not dressed for combat, Aqua held her hand out in front of her. Master Eraqus' keyblade materialized in her hand, its familiar weight soothing and foreboding all at the same time.

The dynamics of the monstrous scream softened slightly, signaling a change in the sound's direction. Whatever she was hearing was passing by her, escaping her notice.

"I don't think so."

Pivoting on her heel so she was facing the house, Aqua took ten steps backward then sprinted into a leap. She flipped once then used a bit of magic to propel her higher.

The landing on the rooftop was a little shaky, mainly because she wasn't wearing shoes and the initial impact hurt; however, the jolt of pain she felt through her feet was nothing compared to the terror overtaking her heart.

High above her head, a massive ball of varying heartless span around in a circle heading toward the center of the island. Most of them were shadows, but there were a couple larger Heartless floating through the sky as well. Some were water-based, others fire...

Aqua's grip tightened around the hilt of her keyblade, confusion and a small trace of fear etched in her expression.

"_The timing for this couldn't be any worse."_

* * *

"Wait! Aqua? Was that you?

There was no reply.

In a strange world suspended between life and death, Sora waited.

His body was gone. What remained were mere dust particles of light, forming the shape of a crown.

He had been there for what felt like eons, but in reality, only a day had gone by in the real world.

Aside from vague images and lingering feelings, he had no memories to speak of. However, what little he could recall from the moments before his entry to this eerily silent world were of the last person he ever saw. Out of loneliness and boredom he began to contemplate this memory aloud, though he wasn't really sure if he was actually speaking or not. It was hard to tell, but it made him feel better to think that somewhere, someone could hear him.

_Sora...?_

Aqua's voice was the first voice he'd heard in so long. It was a welcome sound, his name on her lips.

Since he couldn't remember any of the other voices from the silhouettes he could call to his mind's eye, the single voice he could identify as the voice of a friend made him inconceivably happy. The pure joy he felt would have brought him to tears if not for the fact he literally couldn't cry. No body. No eyes. No tears.

That thought alone was creepy, but Sora wasn't one to dwell too long on the negatives, especially when something wonderful was happening simultaneously.

However, the moment of bliss was short-lived. Mere seconds after he heard Aqua's voice, a shrill shrieking ripped through the air...

And then suddenly...nothing. All was silent again.

She was gone.

And Sora felt the crushing weight of loneliness once more.

"Don't go," he whispered pleadingly. "Don't leave me."

* * *

A/N: And that's the end of the chapter. Since some of you were worried last time, rest assured, Kairi is okay! Then again...are you sure you can trust me? (Insert evil chuckling here.) Despite being a short chapter, a lot happened here. Our mysterious data person is working diligently to piece the madness together, finding little pockets of information through recovered entries. Of course, clearly there's information missing because now Aqua has Sora's pendant. We have no idea how she got it as of now, but I'm sure the data collector person, whoever they are, will find the missing information soon.

I'm going to have to add a mystery tag to this story, aren't I?

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter despite its short length. The next one will be a lot longer. Believe me, it took me FOREVER to finish it. And originally, the ending section with Sora was not part of this chapter. I added it in today because I felt we needed to see him again and because this chapter is a calm before the storm sort of chapter. (Also, I struggled to figure out a title song for this one because it didn't have a solid theme like the other chapters did. However, after searching up the lyrics to Don't Leave Me by BTS, the inspiration hit and I was like, "There's been a change of plans!" Lyrically that song just ties in so well with the overall tone I'm going for with this entire story, so please check it out. BTS is awesome.) Have a great day everyone! See you again in the next one.


	8. Sinister Shadows

A/N: This chapter is going to be one for the record books folks. That's all I can say.

Warnings: This is the longest chapter in the story so far since it was sitting at about 5,000 words pre-author's note additions. Also...you guys aren't ready for this chapter on any level. Not even a little bit. Personally it's my favorite chapter in the story right now, and I can't wait to see how you guys react to it.

Disclaimer: We don't have time for this today.

Song Title: A track from the Kingdom Hearts II OST I believe you guys are all familiar with.

* * *

_Sinister Shadows_

* * *

**DATA RECOVERY PROCESSING  
Recovery Status: 20%  
View data?**

**...**

**Understood. Processing request.**

**Entry 7A-125 detected  
Location: The Mysterious Tower  
Time: 10 hours after the disappearance**

* * *

King Mickey's stride was slow as he made his way across the grounds toward the cobblestone steps of Yen Sid's tower. He had returned home briefly about three hours prior to relay the news of Sora's death to Queen Minnie. The two of them cried together for a little while and then she sent him away to continue his mission to spread the news to Sora's other friends in various worlds. Given the vast number of worlds visited and the amount of friends made, trying to inform everyone of what happened was proving difficult. On some level, it was debatable whether it was even necessary to spread the information. Mickey himself wasn't sure. If anything, it just seemed like a way for everyone to feel useful or just be out of the way so those closest to Sora could grieve in peace.

And so, the mouse king was at his second stop, walking at a snail's pace as a means to get his thoughts together.

However, while walking he just happened to look up at the starlit sky...

A star blinked out.

Mickey stopped walking.

"Huh? Was that...?"

A second star disappeared before he could even finish the question.

In the next second, the king was racing for the front door to the tower. When he glanced at the sky again, he could have sworn another star was going out.

"Master Yen Sid!" he shouted, shoving the doors open before continuing his frantic pace up the winding stairs. It took Mickey less than a minute to reach the door to his teacher's study, and though it was rude to do so, he pushed his way into the room without knocking.

Panting, Mickey's quickly glanced around the room. Surprisingly, Master Yen Sid wasn't in his usual seat at the center of the room.

More shocking was the sight of Maleficent sitting on the window seat. Her cold, dark gaze drifted slowly from the sky to peer cautiously at him. Pete was kneeling on the floor a little ways off, his attention momentarily diverted from the multitude of books scattered about the floor.

Mickey was too stunned to speak for a moment. If not for his loud entrance, the two occupants of the room wouldn't have noticed him at all since both of them clearly had other things on their minds.

"Well, well," Maleficent began, a cruel smirk gracing her features as she took in the sight of the king. "What a pleasant surprise."

Aware of the sarcasm evident in her tone, Mickey summoned his keyblade and took a defensive stance.

"Where's Master Yen Sid?"

Pete glanced between the evil enchantress and the king, looking uncomfortable rather than smug. "Now I know we're not pals or nothin', but believe me when I tell ya...you don't wanna know. It ain't pretty."

"Be silent, you fool." Maleficent commanded, all pretense of politeness gone. "The King was kind enough to grace us with his presence. Why not give him the answers he doth crave?"

Pete shook his head, his attention staying on the open books on the floor as Maleficent rose from the window seat. With her dark robes billowing about, she reached for the magic staff leaning against the wall and strode gracefully toward the center of the room.

Mickey watched each movement carefully, anticipating an attack from the wretched woman. However, Maleficent caught him slightly off guard when she came to an abrupt halt near Master Yen Sid's table.

"It would seem in his old age, your master's defenses have decreased dramatically," she muttered, gesturing sharply with her staff toward the floor. The movement caused Mickey to tense, not because of its speed but because of what he saw in the space she indicated.

Though the rest of his body was hidden by the table, Mickey saw Master Yen Sid's hand lying limply against the floor. A thin trail of red liquid dripped continuously from it, staining the carpet.

Mickey swallowed to counteract the sudden dryness overtaking his throat.

"Maleficent. W-what did you do?"

The enchantress sighed, covering the master's hand with the folds of her cloak. "Nothing actually. Rather, I didn't take the old fool's life by my own hand. On the contrary...it was the result of an..._unfortunate_ accident."

The mouse king glared fiercely at her as a rush of adrenaline pumped through his heart.

"I'm only going to ask you one more time, Maleficent." he muttered, almost growling. "What did you do?"

With a flourish she turned her back on the mouse king, her gaze on Pete. "I sent the bumbling idiot here to take back something your master stole from my personal library many years ago. I gave him specific instructions _not_ to open the book..."

"I tripped and the bookcase fell over," Pete explained, scratching the back of his head, though his gaze stayed on the task before him. "Then that Yen Sid bloke rushed in while I was scrambling to find the right book and book it out of here. I panicked...and then these black figures jumped out and...and..."

Mickey's attention fell toward the books Pete was still searching through. "What book was it?"

"A tome of grim fairytales, in which rest powerful, deadly curses," Maleficent answered, surprisingly forthcoming with the information. "When in full control of the darkness, one can harness the book's power and bend the curses within to their will."

"Well it's no wonder Master Yen Sid took it from ya," Mickey stated, widening his stance as he mentally prepared to attack. "A book like that in your hands would cause all kinds of trouble."

Maleficent chuckled darkly. "Your Majesty, how much did you _really_ know about your former master?"

Mickey answered by making a mad dash toward her, his rage having reached its boiling point.

"All I know is that you **_killed_** him!"

The mouse king leapt into the air with his keyblade raised high above his head.

The enchantress, looking less than amused, deflected the oncoming attack with her staff. Mickey flipped backward once in the air, landing in a crouch by the door before bolting into another sporadic sprint.

This time, Maleficent retaliated with a dark wind spell that tore through most of the room. Mickey tried to defend against this with an aeroga shield while in midair, but the force of the dark magic colliding with his own sent him flying.

"Wooooah!"

His back collided harshly with the ceiling. He gasped out sharply as the old plaster cracked in response to the impact, then gasped again when gravity forcefully dragged his tiny body to the floor.

After landing with a rough bounce, Mickey rolled onto his back. He remained still for a long moment, his bones aching with each breath he tried to take.

It was safe to say the wind had been thoroughly knocked out of him.

While Maleficent hadn't moved much during the short battle, the strain of using such powerful magic left the enchantress feeling a little breathless too. For a few seconds she leaned against her staff, watching as loose papers floated gently to the floor. She noticed Pete shivering a bit in the corner also, but after one fierce look from her, he snapped out of it and returned to his search.

"Were you not paying attention before?" she droned, irritated. "Yen Sid was struck down by another, and, had you shown some degree of patience, perhaps I would have shared their identity with you, you wretched rodent!"

Pete rushed to her side, a white book decorated in intricate crimson flower patterns. "I think I finally found it! This is the book she and those other figures came out of, right?"

Mickey barely lifted his head from the floor. "_She?"_

Maleficent snatched the book from his hands. "Yes. This is the one. Unfortunately, it is useless to me without the magic of the Intoner you so foolishly released."

"Can't we just...I dunno...seal her back in or get rid of her altogether?"

Rolling onto his stomach, Mickey made an attempt to get to his knees.

"It is not a simple matter to destroy an Intoner," Maleficent declared, sparing one last glance at the mouse king and his struggle to stand. Then, with another flourish of her cape she waved her staff in a circular motion toward the window behind them. A dark corridor appeared seconds later.

"Only a dragon is capable of such a feat," she continued. "As it stands, I can no longer take that form."

"Wait!" Mickey called, finally staggering to his feet. "Maleficent! Pete!"

"Sorry, gotta bounce," Pete stated, a little bit of his smugness returning as Maleficent disappeared through the portal. "You snooze you lose."

Mickey started to chase after them as Pete ran inside, but the portal faded long before he could reach it. He was alone now.

More than that, he was alone with a body.

The body of the great Master Yen Sid.

Mickey, shaken by this second tragedy, sunk to his knees and wept. Bad enough that Sora was gone, but now his trusted teacher and friend was gone too.

On top of all that, the mouse king was certain he'd seen the light of other worlds going out again.

"_How am I supposed to tell everyone_?" he wondered hopelessly, squeezing his eyes shut. "_How are we going to overcome this?"_

For the first time ever, Mickey couldn't think of an answer.

* * *

**Entry 7A-125 - Complete**

* * *

"How can this be happening? The world's are supposed to be safe now."

Aqua muttered this as she dove down from the roof. Two Fire Core Heartless followed her descent to the ground, but she made quick work of them with a well-timed blizzara command and a couple slashes. Once through eliminating them, she picked up Sora's necklace from the patio table and darted back into the house with a scowl of determination plastered on her face.

In the kitchen, Lightning was sporting a similar scowl toward the ceiling dripping with half-cooked pancake batter.

"_Well, there goes breakfast_," she thought, more annoyed than frightened by the continuous screeching that had initially startled her, thus creating the mess she would inevitably have to clean. With a sigh she turned off the cook top and began her trek out of the room to investigate where the blasted noise was coming from.

She caught a glimpse of Aqua yanking her door open while simultaneously struggling to tug a black thigh-high sock over her knee. Lightning stopped moving upon seeing the girl and started to ask if she was feeling better, but Aqua wasn't paying the slightest bit of attention, which was admittedly a slam to the older woman's pride but not enough to warrant a response. Instead she shrugged coolly and stalked to her original destination while Aqua shoved her way into Donald and Goofy's room.

Immediately upon bursting in, the blue-haired master glanced between the two characters and found herself irritatingly bewildered at how either of them could possibly sleep through the sound of literally hundreds of Heartless swarming like mutant bees not even half a mile away from the house.

It was unbelievable. Truly.

With a groan, Aqua ran over to Donald's side first and made an attempt to gently shake him awake, but the bird simply turned his back on her while mumbling something about picnics and Daisy. After a couple seconds of that she moved on to Goofy, attempting the same tactic, albeit more roughly, but ended up with the same result minus the talk about Daisy.

"Okay, that's it," she whispered, inhaling deeply as she summoned her keyblade again. Holding it vertically in front of herself, she called out, "Thunder!"

Two weak bolts of lightning erupted from the tip of the keyblade.

"Bwaaaaaaaah!"

"Owwwwoww!"

Drastic times call for drastic measures.

Donald was the first to recover, his resistance to thunder magic higher than Goofy's. "Hey! What's the big idea!?"

"There are Heartless attacking the island," Aqua explained quickly, her gaze on Goofy as he shook himself out of a dizzy spell. "We have to get rid of them and fast."

Without another word, the blue-haired girl bolted out of the room, though she could have sworn she heard Donald say something akin to, "That doesn't explain why you had to shock us." Whether the wise crack was given or not wasn't something Aqua cared about in the end though, so she kept trucking ahead.

As she ran into the living room, she caught sight of Lightning peering outside through the blinds covering a window.

The pink haired woman shook her head at the sight of the Heartless funnel cloud. "That does not look good."

"Lightning! Where's Riku's room?"

"Upstairs. Second door on the left, but watch out for the..."

"Thanks."

Aqua was halfway up the stairs before Lightning could say another word.

The older woman let out a huff of breath, turning back to the window. "She's going to find out the hard way."

This was going to be an eventful day for all of them. That much was clear.

"_First I hear Sora's voice, then his necklace appears out of nowhere, and now there's a giant swarm of Heartless_," Aqua thought distractedly, unable to properly process the sequence of events rapidly spiraling out of control as she traversed the steps two at a time. "_How did I hear his voice? And did he hear my voice too? Where did the necklace come from? Did someone leave it there? If so, who? And why are there Heartless..."_

Aqua was too lost in her mental list of questions to notice the sharp corner that led to the lone hallway at the top of the stairs. This wouldn't have been an issue if Riku hadn't been rounding said corner the second she reached the top of the steps.

"Gah!"

The blue-haired master only managed to catch a glimpse of Riku's shocked expression before the full force of his body weight slammed into her, knocking them both off balance.

"_Oh, you have got to be kidding me..."_

Lightning continued to stare at the swarm outside despite the loud shouting and banging that reverberated through the house while the two keyblade masters tumbled down the stairs. There was silence for a couple seconds once the banging stopped, but it was soon followed by moans of pain.

"Just so you know," she called over her shoulder. "I'm not playing doctor twice in one week."

Riku got to his knees, shaking his head once before turning his attention to Aqua. "You okay?"

Aqua gripped her head, only now noticing that she was still wearing the potion bandages. She quickly took them off, then staggered to her feet just as Goofy and Donald rushed into the room.

"I'm fine," she answered a second later, though she wasn't sure if it was the truth or not given the myriad of surprises being thrown at her today, one of which she really wanted to spill the beans on but couldn't thanks to the immediate issue outside.

Donald waddled closer, deciding to use a low power heal spell on Aqua. "Sounds like we got a Heartless problem to solve."

Lightning visibly twitched at the declaration.

"Right." Riku answered, taking the hand Aqua extended to help him stand. "Let's get going."

"Wait."

Everyone waited for Lighting to speak, but when she didn't after half a minute had passed, Riku let out a small sigh and turned to face Aqua, Donald, and Goofy.

"Go on without me. I'll catch up."

Goofy glanced between him and Lightning. "Gawrsh, are you sure?"

"Yeah," Riku answered. "I talked to Kairi a couple minutes ago. She said she's already on her way over, but I'm worried she's going to run into major trouble out there. Give her some back-up for me."

Aqua raised a brow at this. "_Kairi is already out there? Fighting? Alone?"_

"Leave it to us!" Donald replied, raising his magic staff high in the air. "Let's get a move on!"

With a collective nod of agreement, Goofy and Aqua quickly followed Donald to the door. Lightning, having finally moved away from the window, opened it for him with a soft yet forlorn smile on her face.

"Go get em' Daffy."

"IT'S DONALD!"

"Whatever."

The grumbling duck waddled his way out with Goofy trailing easily behind him. Aqua paused in the doorway, bowing forward slightly.

"Thank you for your hospitality and for nursing me back to health."

Lightning nodded, her focus on Riku. "Sure. Anytime."

Once the trio was gone, the pink-haired woman closed the door.

"I don't like the looks of those...Heartless," she declared slowly, a small hint of worry showing in her otherwise fierce gaze.

Riku took a few steps forward, his tone understanding. "I know, but it's my job to take them out."

Lightning remained stationed in front of the door, reluctant to let him face the monsters. Even though she knew he was perfectly capable of defeating them, the possibilities of what could happen if she let him continue on this path were immensely frightening to her.

A parent's greatest fear, aside from the death of their child, is watching that child go down the same dark road they walked on, and having no power to stop it.

Riku understood this. His mother was an incredibly strong woman, but she had her limits too. She'd suffered through many tragedies throughout her life. He experienced one of them with her, and was still living with the effects of it to this day.

However, there were several pieces of his mother's story he had no clue about and probably never would.

Lightning Farron was an enigma, even to her own child sometimes.

But Riku knew his mother loved him. He knew beneath the general apathy she exhibited was a woman terrified of losing everything again.

As it stood, he was all she had left in the world.

Even so, regardless of the looming consequences, he had a duty to carry out the role given to him. He was a keyblade master now. There was no turning back from his responsibilities, and even if he could abandon them, he wouldn't.

His mother taught him the importance of honoring his commitments.

He would see every battle through to the end, just as his mother had done before him.

"Kids grow up too fast," Lightning muttered softly, a humorless laugh escaping her. "Teach them in the way they should go, and when they grow old they won't depart from it."

"What was that?"

She shook her head. "Nothing for you to concern yourself with." With a sigh, Lightning stepped away from the door and opened it for him. "Go. You have an enemy to defeat, don't you?'

Riku nodded, his gaze on the Heartless swarm in the distance. "Thanks, Mom."

Without another word he took off, passing by her in a blur. Lightning took a few steps outside, her gaze following him as he summoned a giant silver keyblade. The wind howled about, shaking through the surrounding palm trees while the monstrous shrieking continued to echo through the air.

Crossing her arms in front of her chest, the pink-haired woman shifted her cold gaze to the Heartless swarm in the sky once more. For her, it was a familiar and chilling sight.

"_I'm getting far too old for this."_

* * *

Down the street from Riku's house, Aqua, Donald, and Goofy dashed their way past several shadows scurrying across the pavement.

Aqua smacked one of them into the air with a grunt, causing the small shadow to dissipate into wispy black smoke.

"Fire!" Donald yelled while Goofy spun rapidly in a circle nearby, colliding into several more shadows. The fight continued on this way, with Donald casting spells, Goofy slamming his shield into enemies, and Aqua fighting with a mixture of magic and melee attacks with her master's keyblade.

Despite having never fought together before, the three of them worked seamlessly together. Sometimes when Aqua wasn't fully prepared to block an oncoming attack, Goofy would step in with his shield to protect her. Likewise, when she performed certain spells on tougher enemies like the Neoshadows and Large Bodies, Donald would back up her spells with his own magic, allowing them to do double damage.

However, though their teamwork was great, the speed at which they were taking out enemies was slow. Every time they defeated a wave of Heartless another wave double the size would take its place. They weren't going to get to Kairi at all this way.

"We need to cover more ground," Aqua called out, retaliating against another shadow with a quick aero spell. "Kairi needs us."

Donald sent out a flurry of meteors, shouting, "We can handle these small fry."

"Yeah," Goofy added, ceasing in his spinning for a few seconds. "You go on ahead and meet up with Kairi."

"Are you sure?"

Goofy laughed heartily. "Hyuck! Of course! We promised Sora that if anything happened to him, the two of us would carry on and keep fighting."

"And that's exactly what we're gonna do," Donald added, sending out another fire spell. "Go help Kairi."

Aqua nodded, then activated a fearsome thundaga spell. It shot out from her keyblade and surrounded them, taking out a large number of the enemies.

"There," she called over her shoulder. "That should help out some."

Goofy and Donald both gave her a quick thumbs up. "Thanks, Aqua."

She glanced at the two of them, wanting desperately to share the good news about Sora with them, but now wasn't the time to do so.

"Be careful you two." With that said, she took off into a sprint down the street, leaving Sora's most trusted comrades behind.

As she ran, she could feel the weight of the necklace inside of her pocket.

"_Heartless first_," she thought, cutting down another shadow while rounding a street corner. A blast of searing flames from a Fire Core flew past, just barely missing her when she cartwheeled out of the way. She cast another thundaga spell to take care of them then cast blizzard on the road.

"_This will be much faster_," she thought, jumping onto the icy pathway as her flowmotion abilities kicked in, allowing her to slide along the ice at high speed through the neighborhood. Along the way she sent a flurry of energy blasts toward oncoming flying enemies and tossed her blade like it was a boomerang at others all while making sure she casted enough blizzard spells to keep her fast travel going.

"_They're all over the place."_

Rounding another corner, Aqua stopped casting blizzard and skid to a halt along the ice path once she caught sight of Kairi at the end of a cul-de-sac. At least ten Water Cores had caught her in a wide encirclement.

"Kairi!"

The girl turned abruptly. "Aqua?"

That second of distraction was all it took for one of the Heartless to launch a water whip straight toward Kairi's face.

Aqua started to make a motion to cast a blizzard spell to freeze the vicious attack, but stopped casting when the red-head leaned back, ducking away from the water whip at a speed so quick it was practically unnatural.

She would have contemplated this strange development further, but a second Water Core was approaching swiftly from behind. The blue-haired warrior stayed still for a moment to let the new enemy think it had the upper hand before cartwheeling out of range at the last second. Then, with an elegant spin, she pivoted on her heel and slammed the edge of her blade against the monster. It screeched out in anguish then disappeared in the way all Heartless do once they're destroyed.

Kairi also made quick work of the Heartless attacking her, hacking and slashing enemies with a finesse that didn't match the girl's level of experience. Despite the training she'd received before the final battle with Xehanort, the Princess of Heart had an unfortunate tendency to freeze up in close-quarter combat.

This physical response wasn't due to fear. Rather, Kairi lacked a natural fighting instinct. She had to think before she moved.

And, in a real battle, there's no time to think. Fighting has to be second nature.

For Riku and Sora, adjusting to the role thrown at them was as easy as breathing.

Kairi wasn't a warrior in the same way they were. She tried her best for the sake of the worlds and for her dearest friends, but it didn't work out well, hence Sora's mishandling of the Power of Waking and supposed demise.

Aqua knew better now. Sora was most definitely alive. She didn't have a clue where he was or how to explain how she knew he was alive to anyone just yet, but she heard his voice clear as day. That was all the evidence she needed.

And as the blue-haired master fought her own wave of elemental enemies, she began to note how at ease the younger girl had become with melee attacks. In addition, she wasn't using any of her magical abilities against the Heartless at all. If Aqua was remembering correctly, that was supposed to be the red-head's specialty.

Even more suspicious, every time Kairi was vulnerable to an oncoming attack, she would weave out of danger and strike back long before Aqua could warn her or make a move to protect her.

She was fighting as if she'd been doing it all her life, and that was an uncanny thing to witness, especially since Kairi hadn't been capable of maneuvering this way two weeks ago...

Which begs the question...

"_When did she learn to fight like that?"_

* * *

**Entry 7A-122 Decoded  
Location: Destiny Islands  
Time: 1:00 a.m.; Six hours after the disappearance**

* * *

The mysterious figure wearing the familiar black cloak made famous by Organization XIII stared down at the crown-shaped pendant in his hand in silent contemplation.

"_There are pieces of Sora's heart inside. The rest are scattered." _The figure closed his eyes and concentrated on getting a feel for where the other pieces could be and ended up with a headache as multiple locations came to mind, including the play island where he currently stood.

How it happened was a mystery, but Sora had gotten himself into a messy situation with his heart.

And Roxas had absolutely no idea how to go about fixing it.

Finding the crown necklace was a start. Someone had cast a spell on it recently, which somehow enabled it to hold on to a few fragments of Sora's heart. The rest definitely existed out there, he could feel that much, but deciphering exact locations and whether the pieces were physical or conceptual went beyond what Roxas was capable of figuring out on his own.

Behind him, Roxas heard the sound of another dark corridor opening. On instinct he summoned his two keyblades: Oathkeeper and Oblivion.

"Hey! Calm down. It's just me."

Recognizing the voice, Roxas allowed the weapons to disappear from his hands. "Xion? What are you doing here?"

"I was part of Sora's heart too you know. And you were acting really strange earlier, so I decided to follow you."

Roxas almost laughed at this but kept still and waited for Xion to stroll up beside him. She was also wearing her Organization coat, but the hood was pulled down, revealing her short black hair and familiar face. With a playful gesture she yanked his hood from off his head so she could see him more clearly.

"Oof! Hey, not so rough!" he chided, laughing a bit in spite of himself.

"Sorry," she replied, her smile far more gentle than Roxas had expected it to be. He was a little confused by her expression and how the twinkle in her eyes made him feel internally. It was a weird fluttery sensation that circulated through his chest.

He knew he had a heart now, but he still wasn't fully aware of all the different emotions he was capable of feeling. He had an understanding of the most important ones, but little things like how his cheeks heated up when Xion stared tenderly at him tended to throw the former Nobody off a little.

Turning away so she wouldn't see him blushing, he muttered, "S-so you felt it too, huh? When he disappeared before? How his heart just shattered?"

Xion gave a nod, her gaze on the waves as they rolled to and fro. A low peal of thunder rumbled in the distance.

"Yes. I did."

Roxas hummed his acknowledgement, a scowl now taking over his features as he looked toward the folded tree trunk. "Did you also notice something off with Kairi?"

"Huh?" she questioned, blinking in obvious surprise. "No. Why? Did you?"

"Right away," he mumbled, closing his fingers over the pendant in his hand. "I exist because Sora turned himself into a Heartless to save her. And because of that...she and I have a special link to one another."

Xion tensed a little at this. "You do?"

Hearing the apprehension in her voice, Roxas placed one of his hands on her shoulder. "When I lost my memory and was stuck in the digital Twilight Town, Kairi and I were able to talk briefly. Not really sure how it happened and she was just a voice in my head at the time...but...from that point forward it's always been easy for me to sense her. Even if I can't tell exactly where she is."

"So, what does that mean?"

Roxas let out a small sigh. "I felt Kairi disappear the second it happened. I knew before we met up with Sora and the others that she was gone. And...her light hasn't returned. Believe me, I went looking for it just as Sora did."

Xion brought up her hand and rested it against his on her shoulder. "Roxas..."

"I wouldn't exist without Kairi," he cut in. "Neither would you."

Her grip on his hand tightened ever so slightly.

"But...Kairi is back now. Right?"

It took an excruciatingly long time for him to answer the question, and when he did, Xion wished wholeheartedly that she hadn't asked.

"I wasn't sure before because she looked and acted almost exactly the way Kairi would," Roxas began, his gaze narrowing on the sand. "But...I'm sure now."

Silence took hold again for only an instant, but for the two of them, it seemed to stretch on for eternity.

"The girl Sora brought back isn't Kairi."

* * *

**Entry 7A-122 - Complete**

* * *

"What? WHAT!?"

The mysterious figure read over the last few lines of Entry 7A-122 in complete bewilderment, certain something had to be off in the data somehow because the information was so far out of left field that mankind hasn't begun to invent a term to describe the measure of distance one would need to classify how far out of left field it was. It would be much easier to make sense of everything if all the entries were neatly in place like they had been before _somebody_ wrecked the whole system, but such was not the case.

With a longsuffering sigh, the person moved on from that mess to review Entry 7A-125. So far, this was the most intriguing entry since the keyword selected for the search was "Kairi". If anything, this entry shouldn't have been recovered until much later...

"Unless...hmm."

Green eyes searched frantically through the words written in Entry 7A-125, looking for any hints or clues.

Eventually those eyes settled on one word.

_Intoner...why does that word sound so familiar?_

Rolling away from the sterile white desk housing the computer recovering lost documents, the mysterious figure moved to another database nearby and booted up the system.

_One way or another, I'll find the connection._

* * *

A/N: Well, this chapter was something else wasn't it? I told you guys you weren't ready for this one. Thank you for reading! I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and that you'll be excited for the next one. It may take me a little longer to update this time around though. This is mainly because chapter 9 is not complete yet. I ran into a bit of a snag while writing it, so I'm currently a bit stuck on it. The ideas are there but the placement of certain plot points is where I'm struggling at the moment. Not sure how to arrange the pieces just yet. However, I'm sure that problem will remedy itself soon and that the updates will return to their usual speed once I get a bulk of chapters written again. Thank you all again for taking an interest in this story. Whether you review or not, I appreciate you reading all the same. Thank you and God bless you all.


	9. Darkness of the Unknown Part 1

A/N: Hello everyone! Long time since the last update...and my timing is kinda horrendous considering that the Kingdom Hearts Re:Mind DLC will be out in two days and will be giving us a lot of new story stuff concerning Sora and the aftermath of the game's original ending in which Sora goes out to find Kairi. And a part of me wants to wait to see what's going to happen before posting this but...regardless of what new story information comes out, for this story I'm going to do my own thing, although parts of the story stuff from Re:Mind might creep into this story if there's stuff in it I want to incorporate into this Fanfiction. But on a whole, we're going a different route, which is going to make a lot of sense considering the other properties I'll be involving once we get this story rolling. I hope you guys will enjoy this chapter and many apologies for taking a while to update. I had a bad bout of writer's block for this particular story and even now I don't have a draft of chapter 10 written. However, I have a better idea of where I want to take this story and I'm sure the Re:Mind DLC will grant me some much needed inspiration. Anyway, that's it for this gigantic author's note. Enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts is a product of Square Enix, Director Tetsuya Nomura, and Disney. This is a Fanfiction made for entertainment purposes only.

Song Title: Darkness of the Unknown from Kingdom Hearts II

* * *

_Darkness of the Unknown Pt. 1_

* * *

_~Two Days Earlier~_

_Sora was tired. He was walking across an eroded cobblestone pathway through an abandoned city. In times past it was called the Cathedral City, because at its center an imposing an immaculate cathedral stood. It was erected long ago as a home base for the Intoner known as One._

_Of course, Sora didn't know any of this. He was flung into this shell of a world after a week of searching through several different realms for Kairi's heart. He was having no luck with that as of yet, but considering how it had only been a week, the young keyblade wielder still had plenty of hope to spare. He would find Kairi. No matter what it took or what he had to sacrifice, he would save her. _

_This was the oath he made deep in his heart before setting off on this journey._

_However..._

_The city in which he traveled was cursed._

_Of course, it wasn't cursed in the typical way. There was no magic spell lingering over the place or anything like that._

_Put simply, the city is a massive grave site. It is a home to forgotten screams of terror and bloodshed It is the resting place for the damned. _

_This city is completely empty of the hope Sora carries deeply in his heart and soul._

_So it goes without saying that the teenage boy full of life, dreams, and purpose, felt extremely uneasy in a place with such a palpable aura of darkness._

_"I hope I can find Kairi's heart somewhere around here and get us both back home," he thought, swallowing a lump that had formed in his throat. "I really don't like it here."_

_And just as he thought that, a scream shot through the air so suddenly he fell backward to the pavement._

_"YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD!"_

_"Stop! Leave me alone, Zero!"_

_Sora, realizing someone was in trouble, quickly got to his feet and ran in the direction of the sound._

_"Shut up! You're dead. Dead. Dead! DEAD!"_

_"Aaaaaaaaaaah!"_

_Speeding up, Sora summoned his keyblade and rounded a corner before scaling up the side of a building. Once on the roof, he saw that there were two women in the main courtyard of the massive cathedral for which the city was named._

_One of them was on the ground laying in a fetal position, crying from a mixture of pain and fright while the other stood shaking with a sword raised over their head._

_The tip was dripping with blood._

_Sora gritted his teeth at the sight and dove from roof to roof until he was close enough to be heard._

_"Hey! What do you think you're doing!?"_

* * *

~Present Day~

After ten minutes of struggling, Aqua and Kairi finally managed to defeat all the Heartless infesting the small cul-de-sac. Both of them were breathing heavily from the effort of keeping up such an intensive battle, but Kairi was showing the most obvious signs of exhaustion.

The second the battle ended, the red-head sunk to her knees, using her keyblade to hold herself up as sweat dripped from her brow. Aqua was by her side an instant later, concern shining in her cerulean gaze.

"Are you alright, Kairi?"

"Yeah." Kairi smiled up at her, but the expression looked weirdly forced to the blue-haired master. "I'm fine. Just a little tired."

"Understandable," Aqua replied with a slight hint of wariness in her tone. "You're still pretty new at this. Battling multiple enemies at once takes time to master. You...did well."

The smile Kairi responded with this time seemed more natural. "Thanks."

Aqua extended her hand to the girl. "_Maybe I'm just being paranoid_."

"Kairi! Aqua!"

Both of them fixed their attention in the direction of Riku's voice as Aqua helped Kairi to her feet. Seconds later they watched Riku round the street corner with Donald and Goofy trailing behind him.

"Riku!" Kairi waved at him exuberantly, almost as if she were happy to have a distraction from Aqua's presence. "Everything okay on your side of the neighborhood?"

"It is now," he answered once he'd stopped running. "Looks like you two handled things well here."

"Yeah," the red-head cheered, her smile even brighter now. "Aqua and I made a great team."

Feeling awkward, Aqua decided to return the smile and just nod in agreement. For whatever reason, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was just...off about Kairi.

Riku raised his brow, also seeming to notice something odd. "Kairi? You sure you're okay?"

"Perfectly fine." After a sharp inhale she added, "But there are still Heartless swarming all over town. We have to get rid of them quickly."

"Kairi...listen, if you need to rest you don't have to..."

"BRIIIIIIING!"

Aqua's Gummiphone suddenly blared to life, stunning all of them into a defensive stupor. Only after the first couple rings did the blue-haired master realize the sound was coming from her.

"Sorry," she muttered, hurriedly reaching into her left pocket for the phone. "It's probably Ven or Terra checking in." Tapping on the 'Answer Call' button she started to shift away from the group when Mickey's face appeared.

"Mickey?"

Donald and Goofy bounded over the second she uttered his name.

"Hey Your Majesty!" Donald wailed, appearing on Aqua's left side.

Goofy appeared seconds later on her right. "Good to see ya!"

The Mouse King tried to smile at his most faithful friends and subjects, but just couldn't manage the expression. That alone was as good an indicator as any to yet another bout of bad news to Aqua.

Riku strolled over to the trio after taking another second to make sure Kairi was doing alright. Aqua held out her arm a bit more so everyone crowding in could see Mickey in all his woeful glory.

"Your Majesty? What's wrong?" the white-haired teen asked, raising a brow.

Mickey struggled for a moment, a deep sigh escaping him.

Aqua bit the inside of her jaw in grim anticipation.

"Are you okay?" Donald asked.

"Yeah. You don't look so good." Goofy added.

The Mouse King closed his eyes, taking in a final breath and then...

"Master Yen Sid has passed away."

There was a collective gasp among the group gathered around the Gummiphone. Kairi stood only a little ways off, so she heard the news.

However, she didn't respond.

The others present didn't notice. They were too stunned by the information to pay attention to anything else.

"Master Yen Sid...passed away?" Donald shook his head, tears already gathering in the corners of his eyes as he fell to his knees. Goofy was next to him in an instant, patting Donald's back with one hand while simultaneously wiping a tear from one of his own eyes.

Riku's jaw dropped in complete disbelief and horror.

Aqua brought up her free hand to steady her grip on the phone then began asking questions in a fashion sounding far too mechanical for anyone's liking, yet it was her default setting in moments like this.

"Mickey, what happened? Was it from old age or..."

She trailed off for a second when she glanced up from the phone and noticed Kairi standing there with a completely blank expression on her face.

"Did someone...do something to him?"

Mickey was struggling to talk, which was understandable given the information he was sharing and the fact that the person in question had been his teacher. Master Yen Sid had been a teacher to all of them in one way or another. Plus, he had been around for so long and was so powerful that it was difficult to even fathom the idea of his death.

In some ways, it was similar to how none of them could truly believe Sora was gone.

And even though Aqua knew differently now, the others did not.

This information was just compounding the grief Riku, Donald, and Goofy were already dealing with.

"_But as for Kairi..."_ Aqua kept her gaze on the girl. She wasn't looking at any of them. Her gaze was fixed on the funnel cloud of Heartless high above.

"Master Yen Sid was killed."

"Killed?" Riku questioned. "You mean...someone attacked him?"

"Right now, I'm not sure what happened, Riku," Mickey admitted. "I came here to tell him about Sora and...when I got here Maleficent and Pete were in his study looking for a book."

"They must have done it!" Donald screamed, bouncing up fitfully from the ground.

Goofy was silent for a few seconds, then shook his head. "Now I don't know about Maleficent, but Pete wouldn't do something like that. He may be a troublemaker and he's always hanging around the wrong type of crowd, but he ain't evil deep down."

"Maleficent wouldn't go to that extreme either," Riku agreed, his hands coiling into fists by his sides, no doubt remembering past mistakes. "She's rotten to the core, but murdering an old man is beneath her. I'm sure she said as much."

"Well, she said it was an accident," Mickey supplied. "She sent Pete to the tower to steal a book of curses and he released them when he got caught. I'm guessing that's what killed Master Yen Sid, though there may be more to the story than just that."

"Either way," Aqua cut in, focusing her full attention on the Mouse King now. "I'm so sorry, Mickey. Are you going to be okay?"

"I'll have to be," he answered. "Cause there's other bad news I gotta share."

Donald sunk against the pavement again. "There's more? What could be worse than that?"

"Well, the stars are blinking out again. You all know what that means."

Aqua groaned inwardly. "_I knew it. The worlds are in danger again. They're...falling to darkness."_

One of her hands flew to her throat.

Riku noticed the gesture right away. "Aqua?"

"I'm...okay." She inhaled deeply then exhaled. It didn't help lesson the feeling of breathlessness, but there were other things happening to distract her from it for the time being.

"The really bad news is they seem to be falling faster this time."

"When it rains it pours." Riku shook his head in obvious irritation then glared at the Heartless swarms in the sky. "Mickey, we're actually dealing with a Heartless problem on Destiny Islands now."

Mickey nodded. "I see. Well, I'll take care of letting everyone else know what's going on. They're already visiting other world's so it's possible the world's they're in can be saved before they end up in the realm of darkness."

"Okay, we'll take care of things here in the meantime," Aqua answered. "Stay strong, Mickey."

"I will. Thanks."

"Your Majesty," Goofy interjected, stepping forward to make sure Mickey could see him on his screen. "If you're at Yen Sid's tower still, Donald and I can meet you there after we're finished dealing with the Heartless."

Mickey's smile was somber but genuine. "Gosh, Goofy. That's awful kind of ya, but I'd rather you check on Minnie for me. I'm worried about her, but I can't leave the tower yet. There are some things I still need to investigate, and I have to do that alone."

"We understand, Your Majesty," Donald answered. "Good luck."

A few more goodbyes were exchanged then Mickey hung up. Aqua slowly put the phone back in her pocket. "Well...that was...a lot to take in."

"That's one way to put it," Riku replied, his eyes on Kairi. She was still staring at the Heartless swarm, her expression unreadable.

"You okay?"

She blinked once seemingly shaken out of a daydream. "Fine. It's just...it's gotten larger."

Aqua shifted her gaze to the grey sky above only to cringe at how the original clump of Heartless she'd seen had grown in diameter. Several small swarms of shadows and elemental enemies spun out of the massive ball and into different areas, wreaking havoc to the unsuspecting citizens.

"Has there been any damage to the town yet?" she asked.

Riku shook his head. "No. Aside from just scaring a lot of people, the Heartless haven't caused any major issues."

"Well, that's good isn't it?" Donald quipped.

"Yeah," Riku answered. "But it's also a little weird. Clearly we're outnumbered here, but the Heartless aren't really coming at us with full strength. It's like something's holding them back."

Placing a hand on her hip, Aqua watched the path of some of the Heartless swarms. Some of them were flying in odd patterns in the sky while others seemed to dive toward the ground of a distant neighborhood.

"Now's not the best time to speculate," she stated after a moment. "If they're holding back now then that makes it's the best time for us to strike."

Kairi nodded. "I agree. We should probably split up to cover more ground." She turned to Riku. "You and I should see how things are at the school. It's autumn here, so classes are in session, aren't they?"

"Yeah...," he replied, looking in the direction of said school with a contemplative frown. "One of the Heartless swarms went that way, so we better handle them for the sake of the students." After a few seconds he turned to Aqua. "You should head over to the play islands. I think the heart of this world is somewhere out there."

"We'll go with ya," Goofy chimed in, smiling brightly at her. "Right Donald?"

"Absolutely."

Aqua felt the weight of the pendant in her pocket again.

"_I need to tell everyone about Sora..."_

The thought trailed off as she opened her mouth, ready to do just that, but something invisible called out to her again, demanding she stop.

_Not yet! It's not safe._

Aqua swayed to the side a little.

"Aqua!"

Donald's squawking shook her out of the dizzy spell. "Huh?"

"Are you okay?"

Aqua lifted her gaze from the asphalt below to meet Kairi's. Her expression seemed to show a great deal of concern, but...

"_I have to be imagining it."_

"I'm fine, Kairi," she answered finally. "Just got a bit dizzy for a second. Thanks for asking."

"Don't push yourself too hard," Riku ordered jokingly. "You heard my mom. She's not going to play doctor twice."

Everyone laughed at the quip, but Aqua was only half paying attention at this point.

"_Whose voice was that just now?"_

* * *

**DATA RECOVERY PROCESSING  
Recovery Status: 38%  
Multiple entries detected  
Encryption detected in newly recovered data**

"I expected as much at this point," the mysterious person muttered, still busy searching for anything related to "Intoner" on a separate database. "Decode the data."

The computer made quick "ding" sound to confirm the command registered than began the process of decoding.

_If those entries are encrypted, it means they're probably the key to figuring out what's going on in this timeline. I'm definitely making progress here. It's slow going, but the answers will reveal themselves soon enough._

_However, what's truly troubling is not knowing who created this mess or why. It has to be someone who knows the purpose of our organization, or at the very least, someone who knows how our system databases function. _

The mysterious figure continued to type, searching through archives detailing events from a different dimension's timeline. Entries for this particular timeline were told in a different format than what the data collector was used to. Rather than explaining events in detail, the entries were told in an almost lyrical format complete with flowery writing and passages describing the history of a world straight out of a fairy tale.

After a few minutes of scrolling through passages, one caught the person's attention.

_This little novella looks promising. Let's see._

With a few more taps on the keys, the entry appeared and the mysterious figure began to read.

"_Long ago in the age tarnished by endless conflict, five beautiful goddesses descended upon the land. The goddesses sang mystical songs that restored peace and harmony to our broken world. The people began to worship these holy songstresses and came to refer to them as "Intoners."_

With widening green eyes, the figure rose from the chair. "This is merely surface level information. I need more. Certainly someone monitored this..."

The words drifted into the air, forgotten completely as the researcher conducted another scan. After a couple seconds, a detailed report of the monitored timeline appeared in a format _she_ could understand.

"_This concludes the supplemental repairs made to recording M4510_E0900_FL. Please ensure that such mistakes do not occur again..."_

"Crap, this is an ALPHA level report."

"_With this all conditions have now been met. Now all that remains is BRANCH D. The final record of the singularity known as Zero. Divergence BRANCH D."_

The mysterious figure tapped _her_ gloved fingers against the counter top, uneasy about what she'd found. ALPHA level reports were traditionally off-limits to lower level researchers, which unfortunately, Accord model 374 happened to be.

Even so, 374, a female android tasked to monitor Sora and those connected to his heart, knew that this classified information was imperative to figuring out what was going on in the branches in the timeline she was chosen to keep track of. Of course, up until recently, her records had consisted of a continuous timeline with no branching paths. Now...

"The divergences started shortly after Sora gained access to the power of waking," 374 stated, glancing over the old data in front of her. "But in the case of this timeline, the divergences occurred much faster and were far more volatile. Let's see..."

Looking over the data, Accord model 374 noticed some disturbing anomalies within the third branch of the timeline, BRANCH C.

"_Both the Intoners and their disciples seem to be entering unstable mental and emotional states. I shall continue my investigation, keeping an eye out for any signs of a Full Collapse."_

"Did a Full Collapse happen..."

Before 374 could finish asking the question, the doors to her office opened. With a start she jumped to face whoever entered...

Only to find herself standing face to face with a singularity from Sora's timeline...

* * *

"Take this!"

Aqua, twirling her keyblade like a baton, attacked the surrounding enemies with Donald and Goofy supporting her nearby. Most of the enemies around them were shadows, but the continuous cycle of battles were beginning to wear all of them down.

Their current mission was to make their way to the play island, but between Heartless swarms and individual enemies blocking their way, the trio had only managed to drift into the next neighborhood. It was closer to the ocean and had a more quaint, rural feel than the more high end neighborhood Riku and Kairi lived in. The houses were smaller, with more space between the individual plots.

There were more Heartless around too, but for whatever reason they weren't attacking the homes or going after any of the frightened citizens that passed by in a frenzy. This was a relief to Aqua, but, as Riku had pointed out before, this behavior from the Heartless was strange.

Of course, when the trio arrived, the Heartless attacked immediately.

Another few minutes passed before the remaining shadows coiled into another large swarm.

Goofy readied his shield. "Get ready!"

Donald widened his stance, a look of sheer agitation on his face. "Ah, come on! Enough is enough already!"

Aqua was in agreement with the duck but kept silent in order to maintain focus, which was difficult to do with her lungs practically on fire.

"_Why am I so tired?"_

As the swarm dove into the asphalt in front of them, the three fighters jumped out of range. Donald and Goofy retaliated with their respective magic and melee attacks soon after the initial strike, but Aqua ended up staggering a bit on the landing. Her breaths came out in a rasp as she stood there, preparing her next strike.

"Now Aqua!"

Heeding the signal from Goofy, the blue-haired master leaped into the air once more and pointed her keyblade forward. Rainbow colored swirls of magic burst from the keyblade, blasting the enemies on impact.

She landed on the ground shakily once through with the flurry of attacks.

"_I can't...keep this up,_" Aqua thought, straining to get a proper breath. "_I don't understand. I never tire out this easily..."_

The thought trailed off when she remembered she wasn't in the realm of darkness anymore. There, she could go on fighting endlessly without needing to rest.

But here in the realm of light was a different story. In two weeks she had barely slept and the one night she did sleep peacefully was the result of a head injury. She was in no condition to fight at this capacity. Lasting this long was a testament to her stamina and physical endurance, but Aqua was at her limit.

Unfortunately, pride was still a factor in her decision making.

"I won't...let them see me weak again,"she whispered lowly.

The swarm was shrieking too loudly for Donald and Goofy to hear her. They continued attacking, though they were nearing their limit as well.

_Aqua._

Clutching the keyblade in her hand more tightly, Aqua took a step forward, ready to make her move again. She heard Sora's voice in her mind, but she wasn't sure if he was speaking to her or if it was merely the memory again.

_Aqua? Is that you again? Are you okay?_

Well, now she knew for certain Sora was speaking to her, but the timing didn't allow for her to address him right away. After all, she wasn't 100% sure he could hear her to begin with.

Once there was another opening for her to attack, Aqua ran forward, speaking lowly once more.

"Sora...if you can hear me, please...just wait a moment."

_Oh? Are you busy?_

"Something like that," she answered, her voice rising in volume a little as she sprung into the air one more time to activate her Ragnarok attack. The Heartless swarm screamed out in clear agony, but it wasn't out for the count just yet.

"One more push should do it!" Goofy shouted.

Donald lifted his staff. "THUNDER!"

Aqua landed back on the ground again, this time unable to stop herself from falling to her knees.

_You should probably take a break from...well, whatever it is you're doing. Your breathing is really shallow._

The blue-haired master smiled, equal parts happy and exasperated by Sora's voice. "Don't worry, I'll be...

"AQUA!"

Startled by Donald's scream, Aqua barely had enough time to create a reflective shield around herself as the Heartless swarm hurdled straight toward her.

"Gah!"

_Aqua! What's going on?_

Unable to answer, Aqua gasped as her shield broke and the Heartless shrouded her in darkness.

It was only for a moment, but the single instant of captivity brought back all the horrible memories of sinking into the depths.

"_No...please no! I can't go back there! I'd rather die than be left alone there for another decade."_

Tears sprang to her eyes as she created another reflect shield then shot the energy out at the shadows. Light immediately broke through the darkness, but the shock wave of the attack sent her spiraling toward the asphalt.

As she fell, she caught the slight glimmer of Sora's pendant flying out of her pocket. With shaking fingers she just barely managed to clutch the crown in her hand.

"S-Sora..."

She closed her eyes, anticipating the impact.

But it never came.

* * *

A/N: And that's how we end this chapter...on a cliff-hanger. Oh, I do love leaving my audience dangling off the metaphorical cliff. It's fun! I feel I should Re:Mind you guys that I'm lowkey evil. Muhahahahahahahahahaha! So, we have a new character and some new lore that has been introduced in this story, and it'll probably fly right over your head if you are not familiar with the work of Yoko Taro, but...let's just say that this story will take some dark twist and turns. Not as dark as some of the stuff that's inspiring this plot progression, but...still darker than normal Kingdom Hearts. I'll leave it at that. I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Please leave a review if you feel so inclined. Until next time...bye! God bless you all!


	10. Darkness of the Unknown Part 2

A/N: This chapter took a while to finish. There are parts that were easy to write and others that were very difficult to really pin down. I changed certain plot points which meant I had to write extra stuff for certain sections of this chapter, but the end result is satisfying enough for me to post. This chapter introduces a lot of new things, so be prepared for some interesting surprises.

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts is a product of Tetsuya Nomura, Square Enix, and Disney. In addition, since I am referencing some things from Drakengard 3 (a game I haven't played but know lots about) I want to say that I don't own this either. Anything related to Drakengard or NieR belongs to Yoko Taro and Square Enix. Oh wait...Final Fantasy characters aren't mine either...so yeah...Square Enix owns it all. You get the point. This is a Fanfiction.

Song Title: Same as last chapter.

* * *

_Darkness of the Unknown Pt. 2_

* * *

Suspended between life and death, Sora continues to wait...though the wait is no longer spent in silence.

Initially, hearing Aqua's voice somewhere outside the crimson realm he was trapped in was a comfort, for her voice alone brought sound to this world.

However, the melodious tone of Aqua's voice stirred up a type of desperation Sora knew he had no experience dealing with. Once confronted with the voice and memory of a friend, he couldn't shake the desire to hear that voice again. The agonizing silence hadn't bothered him so much before, not when he could easily fill the void with his own thoughts, although, admittedly, there hadn't been much for him to think about in the first place given that most of the memories he did retain were incomplete. Even so, trying to piece together the incomplete pieces was a task he was able to occupy himself with to fill time.

It was a challenge he would never complete in this plane of existence, he knew, but it had kept him calm for the most part.

Now...now he felt consumed by loneliness. Try as he might to rid himself of the emotions and stay positive, the pervading silence was beginning to drive him crazy.

The memory of Aqua's voice, while it tormented him because of how desperate he was to hear it again, also kept him from completely losing himself in despair. He was certain he would hear her again. Despite whatever turmoil he felt within, he would wait patiently and listen for the voice that would pull him out of the darkness. His voice of light...

Other sounds began to filter in through the world as he waited. They were distant and unrecognizable most of the time, but sometimes he could make out the distant clang of metal or the distorted, mangled cry of an enemy he remembered combating at some point in his past. He heard soft chatter as well at one point, which was a lot more noise than what he was used to in this world, but he wasn't interested in it. There was only one sound he wanted to hear right now.

The others only added to the eerie nature of this realm.

Hours passed, then days, then years in the crimson-hued world.

Sora felt the weight of each second that went by, but he continued to wait.

It was all he could do. He didn't have the power to escape. He didn't have the strength to reclaim the pieces of his heart. All he could do was listen and recollect the few memories he could...

Eventually, he heard her again.

And what he heard made his heart ache all the more.

"_I can't...keep this up. I don't understand. I never tire out this easily."_

Her breaths were shaky. Strained.

"_I won't...let them see me weak again."_

Another memory came to Sora's mind. He saw an image of Aqua in a different world...a world of darkness.

She stood before him atop the waves of a black ocean. Her hair was white and her outfit a deep purple that was almost as dark as the ocean they stood on. Her fingertips dripped crimson, though not because she had blood on her hands. No...it was because she'd been consumed by the type of despair that ends in rage.

She'd been left alone for a decade in a realm without hope.

He understood what that was like now.

In this memory her eyes were gold instead of blue, a trademark of those who have been consumed by darkness.

They fought each other.

For a few seconds, Sora is startled by the memory, unsure of what to think until another follows right behind it.

Their blades clashed against one another in a ferocious fight for survival on Sora's part. For Aqua, the fight was nothing more than an outward expression of all the built up anger she'd been suppressing for over ten years.

Eventually, he defeated her and freed her heart from the darkness.

And then...the most powerful memory so far...Sora saw himself reaching out for her hand, desperate to pull her out of the depths she was sinking in.

"Aqua."

There's no response at first, but Sora can hear the sounds of battle from wherever she is. He can hear her breathing.

"Aqua? Is that you again? Are you okay?"

The sounds of battle continued, and for a few horrifying seconds, Sora worried she couldn't hear him at all.

But then...at last...

"_Sora...if you can hear me, please...just wait a moment."_

Sora was taken aback for a couple seconds by the words, though it was mainly due to the fact that he literally hadn't done anything but wait for what felt like an eternity just to hear her voice again. Even so...he was happy. It was just good to know he was heard.

Of course he couldn't resist making a slightly irritated quip.

"Oh? Are you busy?"

Aqua clearly didn't catch the irritation in his tone. Her answer was blunt and to the point.

"_Something like that."_

The sounds from wherever Aqua was were becoming clearer to him. He could hear a massive chorus of strangled cries and could even make out someone gargling out the word "thunder." Aqua's breaths grew even more haggard as the seconds passed, making it clear she was exhausted. He couldn't be completely certain if she was fighting since all the sounds together were disorienting to him, but he heard them all just the same.

"You should probably take a break from...well, whatever it is you're doing. Your breathing is really shallow."

Aqua breathlessly responded with, "_Don't worry, I'll be..."_

"AQUA!"

Sora winced at the pervasive cry, but quickly put together a flimsy piece of memory. That voice belonged to Goofy. He'd been one of his comrades. That meant the other voice he'd heard screaming "thunder" was Donald.

But there wasn't much time to rejoice over remembering the voices of some of his closest friends. His focus immediately shifted to the sound of Aqua letting out a panicked grunt.

"Aqua! What's going on?"

The sound of something shattering tore through the silent realm, followed by the worst sound Sora could ever recall hearing.

Aqua screamed...

And then, though he didn't currently have eyes to truly see with, a rush of memories passed before his consciousness.

But the memories flashing in his mind's eye didn't belong to him.

Suddenly it was as if he had a body again, but he was sinking. He was falling into chilling depths. He couldn't move. He couldn't scream. He couldn't even breathe.

"_No...please no! I can't go back there! I'd rather die than be left alone there for another decade."_

Sora, overwhelmed by the sheer intensity of Aqua's memories, let out a scream of his own as he continued to feel everything she did.

He had to get out of here. He had to help her.

He could survive through loneliness. He could handle being trapped.

But Sora decided then and there that he wasn't going to sit idly by and let someone else suffer through the same thing.

If Aqua was in danger of being flung into a world like this, he needed to stop it and he needed to stop it now.

Though Sora's form was nothing more than particles of light in the shape of a crown, his thoughts began to transform him into something else. The crown of light expanded and scattered about for a moment or two before converging into a human-like shape.

For the first time in forever...he could move.

"_S-Sora..."_

"I'll trace the connection. I'll save you, Aqua."

* * *

Aqua closed her eyes, expecting to hit the apshalt, expecting more wounds, and expecting great pain as she grasped Sora's pendant tightly in her right hand. Her master's keyblade had already clattered to the ground, but she...

She felt weightless. It was as if she were floating through the air rather than falling.

And then...she felt warmth.

It was barely a tingle, but she felt the pressure of an arm around her shoulders and another looping beneath her legs.

Not sure what to think, Aqua opened her eyes.

"You're safe now, Aqua."

The blue-haired keyblade master blinked at the clarity of Sora's voice, especially since all she could see of him were faint sparkles of light that created a silhouette of his likeness. He had no face, and the outline of his clothes was barely present.

But the outline of his hair was extremely evident. Aqua wouldn't have been able to mistake that for anyone else.

"S-Sora?" she breathed, unsure.

He nodded as he began to gently lower her to the ground. The particles making up his body were already beginning to fade.

"It looks like I can't stay here with you for long," he muttered, a hollowness to his voice. Once she was seated safely along the edge of the road they were on, he continued, saying, "But I think there's still one last thing I can do while I'm here." The silhouette turned around, presumably to face Donald and Goofy. "Could use your help guys. What do you say? One more team attack for old time's sake?"

Donald and Goofy looked completely dumbfounded, and their expressions would have made Aqua laugh had her focus not been almost entirely on Sora. From the corner of her eye, she noted that the Heartless swarm had broken off into individual shadows.

Sora chuckled. "You two should see the looks on your faces. It's like you're seeing a ghost."

That comment seemed to shake Donald out of it. "Not funny, Sora!"

Goofy hung his head as tears gathered in the corners of his eyes. "Is...that really you, Sora?"

"For the most part," Sora answered, gesturing at himself flippantly. "It's good to see you guys, but I don't have much time." With a wave of his hand, the keyblade materialized whole before him. From where Aqua was sitting, his silhouette was clearly visible, but from Donald and Goofy's vantage point, it looked like the keyblade was just hovering in thin air.

Snapping out of the shock, Aqua stumbled into a standing position. "Sora, you don't need to fight them. I can handle it..."

"I know you can," he interuppted, facing her. "But you've been pushing yourself too hard for way too long. Rest. It's time someone bailed you out for once."

Aqua normally would have protested further, but this time she couldn't. It was an unnecessary argument. She was exhausted...but more importantly...

"I'm...I'm so glad that you're here," she whispered, smiling gently for him. "For however long that lasts."

Sora couldn't smile back at her for lack of a face, but Aqua knew from the way he nodded that he appreciated her words. "I'm glad to be here...with you."

Aqua blinked in confusion, unsure of why he added that last part, but before she could question it he was off with Donald and Goofy trailing behind. She could hear them and their battle with the shadows a short distance ahead. For Donald and Goofy, it was almost as if Sora hadn't disappeared in the first place.

But something was different. He was different.

Aqua wasn't sure how, but she felt as if their connection was stronger now. Almost as if Sora understood something about her that no one else did. She couldn't be sure of that, but it was what she felt when he held her in his arms, when he asked her to rest, and most importantly, his final words to her just now.

_I'm glad to be here...with you._

"Why did he say it like that?" she wondered aloud, placing her hands over her heart. "_And why do those words fill my heart with longing."_

Aqua would have contemplated those words further, but the distant hum of a vehicle made her pause and turn around. A large, run-down pickup truck was pulling up from a distance, but before it could come to a complete stop, the door to the passenger side opened and a familiar figure wearing an organization coat bolted out.

"Roxas?"

The former Nobody didn't seem to hear her and instead stopped for a moment to look around. "He's here, isn't he?"

For a few seconds Aqua didn't know how to respond, but Roxas made it clear she didn't need to once he glanced at Sora's crown pendant in her hand. "Sora. He's here, right? I need to talk to him now."

"Wait a moment," she answered, narrowing her gaze on him. "Did you know that Sora would come back like this?"

Roxas didn't seem particularly interested in talking to her, but he answered without a fuss. "No. But I did know he was alive. And I know some other things too. I've been trying to get past all these Heartless..." he trailed off for a moment as he glared back at the pickup truck. Someone was beginning to get out from the driver's side. "And there were other obstacles I had to deal with too. I got separated from Xion after I told her to take the pendant to Riku...but she must have run into an issue with Heartless as well since you're the one who ended up with it and...I just felt Sora come back but he isn't whole and I need to tell him about..."

Aqua placed her hands on Roxas' shoulders to stop him from continuing with his erratic rant. "Calm down. You can fill me in on the details later. If you need to talk to Sora, he's just up ahead with Donald and Goofy. Just don't let his appearance shock you, okay."

Roxas nodded then gently extracted himself from Aqua's grip. "Don't treat me like him. I'm not a child that needs babysitting."

"Excuse me?"

"Just because Ven and I look the same doesn't mean you should treat us the same," Roxas elaborated, walking around the keyblade master to march toward his planned destination. "Keep that pendant safe, got it."

Aqua's gaze followed after the former organization member with a small hint of disdain. She already knew that Ventus and Roxas were very different people, but just now her natural instinct to provide comfort and support to Ven took over. Her words and actions were heavily reminiscent of how she would talk and act towards him...although she'd hardly call it babysitting. Ven was like a younger brother to her. She gave up ten years of her life to protect him and make sure he stayed safe.

She and Roxas, while on friendly terms, didn't have that bond. She knew that. But...

"Hey, no need to let Mr. Sour Patch Kid get you all upset."

The keyblade master looked over her shoulder and finally noticed the woman who had emerged from the driver's seat of the pickup truck. She was about the same height as her with unruly dirty blond hair tucked under a red ball cap. She wore a yellow biker-style jacket with a red t-shirt and denim shorts coupled with white cowboy boots. There were a couple of black grease marks that dusted over her freckled cheeks, but despite this the woman carried herself with radiant confidence and feminine charm.

Aqua eyed the woman warily while moving toward her abandoned keyblade on the concrete. "Who are you?"

The woman smiled cheerfully while placing a hand on her hip. That smile...

_"No way...could she be..."_

"The name's Cindy Argentum," the woman answered, tipping her hat by way of greeting. "Sora's mother."

* * *

"Mutant Ants would be a better name for these creatures."

Lightning muttered this while slashing one of the Shadow Heartless with her somewhat rusted blade. There weren't many of them along her path toward the mayor's house, but the peaceful atmosphere of Destiny Islands and the aging process had diminished her combat skills somewhat. While not winded, the muscles in her arms were screaming for a break. Thankfully, the Shadow she took out had been the last one in the area.

"The path should be clear now," she stated, sauntering ahead with purposeful strides. The residence of Mayor Noctis Lucis Caelum and his wife Lunafreya Nox Fluret stood directly ahead in all its illustrious glory. Lightning couldn't help but smirk at the place, laughing internally at how it was the mayor's boneheaded best friend who convinced him such an extravagant home was necessary. It was especially funny since said best friend lived in the more rural part of town and ranted on and on how it was the pinnacle of paradise.

But now wasn't the time to reminisce. Lightning was here for a very specific purpose.

Approaching the door she sucked in a deep breath and looked around to make sure there weren't any Heartless looming nearby before ringing the doorbell.

No answer.

Lightning rang it again, her frown deepening into a scowl.

Still no answer.

Growing irritated she knocked on the door as obnoxiously as she could. "_He's the mayor for crying out loud. He needs to do something about this crisis. It's been almost two hours since this mess started and as far as I can tell, he's still cooped up in the house."_

Lightning kept knocking on the door for a few more seconds then stopped to take a few steps back.

"_As lazy as Noctis can be, I know Luna would have made sure he mobilized a police force to protect the people by now,_" Lightning thought while also contemplating whether or not she should kick down the door. It'd been a while since she'd had to implement such a strategy.

Moving into a combative stance, Lightning made up her mind. Something was wrong and the door had to come down.

"_What a pain."_

The pink-haired woman silently lifted her foot but halted once she noticed the doorknob moving. She immediately brought her foot down as the door creaked open slowly...

"L-Lightning..."

Lightning's eyes widened when she saw the mayor on his knees, panting heavily. He had a white cloth pressed firmly against the side of his head with blood seeping through the fabric.

"What happened?" Lightning questioned, cutting to the point as she peered past the mayor and into the foyer of the house. Lunafreya was lying in a crumpled heap nearby. The white marble floor beneath her was a mess of crimson liquid.

"W-where is she?"

Noctis' question caught Lightning off-guard. "Kairi?"

The mayor shook his head. "Not Kairi...the...the impostor. W-where is she?"

"_Impostor__?"_ Lightning wondered, glancing over at Lunafreya. The woman was unconscious, but breathing normally...so all this blood...

"The girl...masquerading as my daughter," he mumbled, slumping against the door-frame. "She's dangerous. She attacked us. She would have...killed Luna. I caught the brunt of the blows."

"I can see that," Lightning answered, her eyes drawn to the blood seeping from his right side. "We need to seal up that wound quick. You've already lost a lot of..."

Noctis shook his head as a means of interrupting her. "Warn your son...and his friends. Protect Luna..."

"Noctis!"

Lightning caught him in her arms before he could hit his head on the floor, then leaned him against the wall so she could start to tend to his wounds. Though still breathing, if the bleeding kept up for too much longer he was going to die.

"_These wounds are too extensive for my potions to handle_," she thought, quickly grabbing one of her potions from her tool belt. The gaping wound on his side was the worst of it, so she quickly used the potion's power to halt the bleeding for a handful of seconds while rushing off into the kitchen to grab a bottle of peroxide she knew they kept in a medicine cabinet. In the same cabinet were a couple more potions and bandages.

Rushing back to Noctis' side, she gently broke another potion and dabbed it along with some peroxide on a cloth so she could tend to his head injury.

It was while she was doing this that she heard Lunafreya beginning to stir. Without any hesitation she shouted, "Luna! Hurry and wake up! Your husband is probably going to die unless you use those healing powers of yours."

Luna lifted her torso off the floor slowly, disoriented and more than a little stunned at Lightning's presence in the house.

"W-what happened?"

"Questions later," Lightning screeched, motioning with a free hand for the other woman to hurry over. "Right now I need your help tending to this wound on Noctis' side. These potions aren't doing much and if we don't hurry he'll die."

Suddenly alert, Luna stumbled over to the front door and sat by Lightning. With razor-sharp focus she gazed at both of Noctis' wounds before placing one of her hands on the long, deep cut against his side. Leaning her forehead against his, she began to chant a healing spell. A golden aura began to surround the couple as she chanted, but Lightning didn't pay much attention to the magic or the words. As Luna worked her magic, Lightning continued to clean the areas around the wounds Luna was steadily healing.

After a few minutes, while it was clear there'd be scarring on the area where he'd been slashed, their combined efforts took Noctis out of the danger zone.

"Thank goodness," Luna breathed, pulling away from her husband's face. Color was slowly returning to his skin.

Though relieved at this turn of events, Lightning didn't stick around once she knew Noctis would survive.

Instead she bolted out of the house without so much as a word and withdrew her cell-phone to call Riku.

"He better answer on the first ring," she mumbled, the harsh words a stark contrast to the almost fearful expression on her face.

_Not Kairi...the...the impostor..._

Those words echoed in Lightning's mind over and over as she tried in vain to reach her son on the phone. More than likely, this person masquerading as Kairi was with him, and that knowledge didn't sit well considering that this impostor tried to murder the mayor of their island.

Eventually, after three phone calls, Riku answered.

"Riku, I need to tell you..."

"Mom? Can it wait? I'm kinda fighting for my life at the moment."

* * *

"Gah!"

After kicking the singularity from Sora's world out of her office door, Accord Model 374 quickly executed codes to send the data she was working on to one of the main recording offices in the base. Then, without any hesitation, she bolted out of the room and past the moaning hooded figure who was struggling to get back to his feet.

"Yep...you might have broken my back just now," she heard him mutter as she bolted out of the room. "Not cool."

374 kept running, her heels clacking against the sterile white floor as she ran past other dismantled offices the hooded figure had visited before gracing hers.

"How did things get this bad so fast," she groaned while summoning a large, 90's style cell-phone. She quickly dialed a few numbers then pressed the thing against her ear.

"This is Accord Model 374 of the BETA Group tasked with monitoring the singularity known as Sora Argentum from Universe 000378_M-12. Another singularity from that universe has infiltrated our base and has taken out all of the BETA class units on this floor. I repeat! There is an intruder loose in the base. Requesting backup and the immediate salvage of all data from Universe 000378_M-12 and the data from Universe 000199_M-13."

"Negative on the request for backup," replied an Accord ALPHA model. "Resources are unavailable due to the destruction of upper levels. Several Units lost in combat due to what records refer to as Heartless. Along with Accord ALPHA Model 22, I am the only unit left to monitor this system. I cannot leave my post and Model 22 is engaging in fierce combat."

"Understood," 374 replied, glancing behind her to check and see if she was being chased. For the time being she wasn't. "What about the data salvage?"

"Our equipment has been damaged. The best I can offer is to send the data to our field operative in Universe 000378_M-12. However, before this operation can be completed, the data will have to be sent to the designated recording space. It should flash red on your sensory map now.

374 quickly tapped two buttons on the edge of her glasses. The image before her green eyes transformed into a map of the interior of the base. Along the upper-left corner of the map, the designated recording area was flashing red.

The only problem is that she'd sent all the necessary data on Sora's world and the world of the Intoners to a recording area on the opposite side of the building.

"Understood," she responded, increasingly agitated by this turn of events. "Final question. Are there any Accord models left operational in the building aside from you and ALPHA Model 22?"

"I'm afraid not. It's just me and Model 22...although she's kinda in bad shape and will probably power down within a few minutes. I'll be honest, we are probably done for here, but thankfully all our primary data has already been sent to our other office in Universe 000032..."

"Thank you for the assistance," 374 interrupted, hanging up as she rounded a corner. Behind her she heard a loud crash. She knew without looking back that this second singularity from Sora's world was chasing her now.

"_Guess he recovered quickly,_" she thought, picking up speed. "_I have to hurry. If that data is lost before recording is complete, it could initiate a full collapse of the worlds and hearts connected to Sora. At all costs, I have to make sure it survives!"_

With this in mind, Accord Model 374 initiated a code by tapping on some hidden buttons on the wall. As she ran past, two machine guns lowered from the ceiling. The intruder tailing her halted momentarily.

374 smirked as she pressed a final button. The machine guns began to fire.

"_I doubt this will kill him, but it should slow him down enough to buy me time."_

* * *

A/N: And so...this chapter went off the walls, huh? I'll have more detailed notes below for anyone interested, but to keep things brief here, we now have parents for all the main trio. Yaaaay! Also, Sora was able to come back for a bit. Sure he's not whole, but we got a nice Sora/Aqua moment out of it. However, there's trouble. The Kairi Sora brought back to Destiny Islands is a fake, yes, but we have yet to uncover her identity. Who is the mystery lady? What's going to happen to Accord 374, the lady basically filling in the missing information that we all need to know in order to understand what it is that's going on? Who is the hooded figure causing her (and us by extension) all these problems? Well...the only way to find out...is to read the next chapter...when I post it...and I don't know when that will be just yet. Opps. XD At any rate, thanks for reading. I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. God bless you all.

Extra Notes:

So, for Sora's parents, I decided to go with Prompto (who you will probably see later) and Cindy from Final Fantasy XV. While their physical features don't necessarily match Sora, their personality traits kinda hit dead-on. Cindy is someone who is always bubbly in the same manner that Sora is plus a slight southern drawl. Prompto is also a character that struggles with feeling like he's good enough and sometimes feels worthless. In Kingdom Hearts 3, Sora pretty much states to Riku that without his friends he feels worthless, and while Riku can see that Sora is just upset and doesn't really mean that, it instantly reminded me of Prompto. Plus, he's also someone who is super happy most of the time and I think rural island life would suit both him and Cindy extremely well. If they raised a child together...I feel like they'd have Sora's personality.

Kairi's adoptive parents (since she wasn't born on the islands and was found) are Noctis and Luna from Final Fantasy XV. Mayor may be a step down from king, but I could only picture Noctis and Luna as Kairi's adoptive parents. Luna and Kairi's personalities really reflect one another and Noctis, while more laid-back, was flung into a role that was bigger than him in the same way Sora is. And since Sora/Kairi is pretty much canon, I thought it would be good for Kairi's adoptive father to have some similarities to Sora in terms of experiences and relationships. Noctis and Luna are constantly apart in very much the same way Kairi and Sora are. While Sora/Kairi isn't the endgame for this story, I feel that Noctis and Luna are a good parallel for Sora and Kairi's relationship and wanted to showcase that a bit here. (Although, I'll admit that I almost killed Noctis off in this chapter. Almost. Like the irony would have been so great, but the real Kairi is probably going through enough without having to come home and find out her dad got murdered by a lady that looked like her. Too dark for Kingdom Hearts. I had to draw a line.)

Alright. That's everything! God bless you guys! See you all next time! Feel free to leave comments and suggestions. I look forward to seeing what you guys thought about this crazy chapter. Also, if you guys want to, feel free to check out my YouTube channel. I typically post K-Pop content, but I also delve into Kingdom Hearts stuff and anime related things every now and again. So if you just want to take a glance at the channel, feel free to. I'm Lillymu961 on there! Hope to see you around! Ta ta!


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